


Rose

by sassassassin



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Multiple Smuts, Smut, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 00:57:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 44,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6263173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassassassin/pseuds/sassassassin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I don't even know your name," he murmured into her hair. "I took a beautiful woman to bed and I haven't even asked her for her name." "I think I'm the one who took you to bed" [NaruSaku]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first English fanfiction that I've ever written, I'm sorry for my mistakes, but I accept all constructive criticism if it makes me better.  
> This is my way of venting at the end of the manga, which left me very unsatisfied.  
> It's an AU story following a one night stand. Originally supposed to be a One-shot, decided to continue it and make it into a short-ish multi-chapter fanfiction.

_**Rose** _

**Chapter 1**

She was sitting at the bar, taking sips out of her vodka-filled glass. She didn't even like alcohol, but tonight, desperate times called for desperate measures. Her eyes scanned the crowd, taking in the moving bodies, grinding against each other in a languid manner to the rhythm of the sensual music. She could almost smell the sweat and desire rolling off people's bodies in the air, almost suffocating her.

" _Sakura," he groaned into her ear, moving languidly into her. His voice shaking her to the core and the smell of their sweat mingled with their arousal making her dizzy._

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to shake off these memories. This was not why she was here. She was here to forget, not to remember him.

Her eyes continued to scan the room, taking in the couples making out on the side. One woman was pushed against the wall while her partner was slowly grinding into her, his mouth latched onto her throat. Another couple, albeit being in a public area, was being blatantly obvious about their activities, as the boy's hand was moving ferociously under the table, making the woman who had his tongue down her throat squirm in her seat and pull at his hair.

_Her eyes widened, and her voice froze in the middle of her conversation with Ino. She was afraid to look at him, but she could clearly feel his fingers moving over her panties-clad privates under the table._

" _Sakura? Are you okay?" worriedly inquired Ino, noticing her friend's sudden change in demeanor._

" _Can you endure this Sakura? Can you endure my fingers stroking your cunt like this for everyone to see?" his breath ghosted the shell of her ear. "You like this don't you, you like being handled in front of others, you dirty girl."_

" _Yeah, sorry Ino, I thought I felt something on my leg," she stuttered, trying to keep herself from moaning loudly._

Her friend Ino was dancing with Sai to the rhythm of music, moving her hips from side to side while he held her against his body. She was the one who convinced her to accompany them, trying to get her laid and forget the past few months.

" _You can't wallow in self-pity Sakura, Sai and I are going out to have fun and you're coming. You have to find a nice boy to get you off," insisted Ino._

" _You know I hate nightclubs, I never used to go there when we were together."_

" _That's another reason why you're going tonight."_

She almost wished they were still together just so he could see her here, just to rub it in his face and make him swallow his pride one last time. She smiled to herself before taking a long swing of her drink, a grimace appearing on her face at the bitter taste coating her tongue. Although she hadn't even drank one glass, she needed some of it in her system to be able to go through the night.

 _This is useless_ , she thought to herself. Getting up, she pulled down the skirt Ino had forced her to wear tonight, before making her way towards the exit of the club. This night was a waste of her time, and the atmosphere was making her sick. This is not how she wanted to move on from her ruined relationship.

Going through the door, it shut loudly behind her as she leaned against the wall, pulling out her phone to tell her friend that she was leaving. She was aware of the constant throbbing in her feet, and the headache she knew was coming. This is why she didn't like noisy places.

Yanking at her heels, she set them beside her on the ground and attempted to call a car to go home, before a voice stopped her.

"Rough night?"

Leaning on the wall was a young blond man, looking at her with a cigarette between his fingers. "You could say so," she stated. The man, who seemed to be around her age, simply laughed. He pulled the cigarette to his lips and took a long puff of it, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, before turning his head to stare into her eyes. His eyes were what she would call a deep clear blue colour, what romantics or poets would label the colour of the ocean. They seemed to spark under the dim light of the entrance, and had a certain tenderness to them, mixed with a hint of sadness.

"Already going home? The night has barely started." Sakura watched him carefully, he had a way of standing that was both nonchalant and jumpy.

"I hate nightclubs," she replied.

"Well, it's your lucky night. I hate them too," he grinned, showing sharp fangs.

-: :-

Biting into her fry, she laughed, smudging a bit of ketchup on the corner of her lips. The man in front of her smiled back, watching her while taking a sip from his straw. He took a napkin from his tray and handed it to the pink-haired woman. "You have a bit of sauce on your face," he said.

She blushed, embarrassed at her messiness, wiping her mouth and stammering an apology.

"It's okay, I think it's adorable."

" _That's disgusting Sakura. How do you manage to make such a mess of yourself every time you eat fries?" he snapped._

" _I'm sorry, I got carried away."_

" _Whatever."_

"Why were you at the nightclub if you hate it?" she inquired, taking a bite from her burger.

"My friends forced me to go out with them for a boys' night out, they claim it's cleansing," he shrugged. "I have no idea why I followed through."

"Wouldn't it be to kidnap harmless young women when they have their guard down?" she joked.

He laughed. "You don't seem harmless though, I bet you can throw a good punch at any man who was being too forward."

"You're damn right I can!"

Looking at her phone, she decided that it was getting a bit late as time was nearing the early hours of the morning, and that she would have to leave her new friend before there was a shortage of available cabs. She looked outside the fast-food restaurant's window. People were starting to leave the nightclub she was at a few hours prior, many swinging from side to side, trying to hold on onto their friends or partners. She was certain that more than a few were taking new acquaintances home to get to know each other more on a physical level. She started to dial to call a cab, when the blond man stopped her.

"There's no need to call a cab, I can take you home. My car is around the corner," he smiled, dimples forming at the corners of his mouth.

"Now I'm going to truly believe you're trying to kidnap me. Am I going to be dead by the morning Mr. serial killer?"

"Who knows my rose," he joked back. "Are you willing to take the risk?"

-: :-

Their pleasant conversation came to a halt when he turned right on her street, and stopped in front of her building. She unbuckled her seat belt, and before she knew it, he was outside at the passenger side's door, opening it for her.

"My my, you're such a gentleman."

"Roses like you deserve the best treatment at the end of a night out," he grinned teasingly, pulling her to her feet and blushing lightly.

"Going to a fast food restaurant is not what I call a night out."

"There's no need to insult my favourite place," he exclaimed, falsely offended. "You bruise me."

"You know I'm not serious. It was very enjoyable," she admitted. "Who knew I would make a new friend at the end of a painfully boring night?"

"Not me for sure," he murmured, standing there in front of her, as his eyes darkened. She smiled up at him, relishing the fact that he was so tall. She looked at her building's entrance, incredibly apprehensive at the boldness she was going to exhibit.

"Would you like to come in for tea?"

-: :-

Allowing him to enter her house, she closed the door behind him, and removed her shoes. Turning around, she bumped into his large and firm chest. Even in the dark, she could distinguish his handsome features, and the sharp outline of his cheekbones. He was a sight, she decided, biting her lips. If she was going to spend the night out, why not take fully advantage of it? Making her decision, she latched onto his shoulders before pressing her mouth to his.

"This is not tea," he said, pushing her back against the door she had previously locked.

"I don't usually do this," she murmured into his mouth in between kisses. He was driving her crazy.

"Me neither," he replied, not stopping once from abusing her mouth with his kisses.

Suddenly, his lips were on her neck and he was sucking at her pulse, his hand travelling down her back. She wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding into him. A deep groan left his lips, as his hardness started to grow. She held his face between her hands, scratching at his whiskers. She could have sworn that she heard him growl deeply, but she was busy focusing on the way his hands were caressing her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he grunted, breathing heavily.

"My room's down the hall," she replied back, a moan escaping her lips when his hand grabbed a handful of her backside. At this point, she was far too gone.

He held her firmly against him, his mouth not leaving hers, while walking towards the room she just indicated. She pushed the door with her feet, unwrapping herself from around him, and pushing him back towards her bed. Too occupied by the other, they failed to notice the book on the ground on which he tripped, her following and landing on his chest. Stunned by the sudden occurrence, they both stared at each other before laughing. He stood up, taking her with him, as her hands were working on taking off his shirt. Pushing him on the bed, she threw the offensive garment on the side as her hands roamed his sculpted chest.

"Do you work out?" she inquired, breathless.

"Yeah, why?" he replied, attempting to take off her skirt.

She simply kept kissing him, one hand in his soft locks, and the other trailing down his stomach, following his trail of hair. Her mouth suddenly latched onto his neck, right above his clavicle, and he suddenly jerked, holding her close to him. Soon, her skirt was off, her shirt following, leaving her in the silk underwear she wore earlier in hopes of getting into the position she was in at the moment. Although she would have liked any derivation of this position as well.

Getting off his lap, she kneeled in front of him in the middle of her bed, and unbuckled his belt. He lifted his hips to allow her to take his pants off, his mouth finding hers once again as his pants flew across the room. Sitting again on his lap, she could feel his hardness through her panties, and she ground slowly but forcefully onto it. He groaned and bit her lower lip, eliciting a deep sigh from Sakura.

His hand reached her back, and he unclasped her bra, albeit with difficulty, before throwing it to the side, relishing the view of her heaving chest and hardened nipples. His mouth automatically latched onto one, and his hand massaged her other breast. He was doing wonderful things with his mouth, and her brain was clouded with pleasure. She could feel the excitement pooling at her lower stomach, and her wetness pooling in her underwear, creating an itch she wanted to scratch really badly.

As if hearing her thoughts, the young man trailed a hand down her stomach, leaving goosebumps in his trail, before caressing her womanhood through her wet panties. She arched into him, sighing deeply into his ear. His hand sneaked inside her underwear, and the contact between his fingers and her clit sent a jolt of pleasure though her body, causing her to scrape delightfully at his scalp. She hadn't been touched like this in a very long time.

His fingers were doing wonders to her nether regions, as he stroked her slowly, rolling her bud between his index and middle finger. He increased the pace, heavy breaths encouraging him, making her grip his biceps hard, her nails nearly tearing at the skin covering the muscular limb. "Fuck, that's good," she swore into his ear, and it was the most erotic thing he had ever heard in his entire life. He kept his ministrations for a few minutes, and Sakura could feel herself nearing the edge. He could feel it as well, because he licked a line from her breast to her ear. "Come for me, my rose," he whispered, and that's all she needed to tip over the edge, holding on to him, her head thrown back in a silent cry, as whispered curses flew freely from her parted lips. He kept rubbing her while she rode her orgasm, whispering things into her ear that would make her blush if she wasn't too far gone. She just laid on his chest, waiting to come down from her euphoria, as he stroked her hair with the hand that wasn't inside her underwear. She got off him and removed her last soaked garment, and pushed him on his back before removing his underwear, leaving him lying there in all his glory. Under the patch of dark blond hair stood his hardened length, the tip red and swollen. He was big, bigger than her last and only other partner, and it filled her with excitement.

She wrapped a hand around him, starting with long strokes, and kneeled in front of him, tentatively putting her mouth on his penis. A groan left his parted lips. He was staring at her like she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen, and it made her feel beautiful, knowing she hadn't forgotten how to use her mouth this way. She took him inside her mouth, sucking as much as she could, while holding the rest with her hands. She rolled her tongue around it, paying special attention to the tip, while he had a hand in her hair, stroking her gently and murmuring to himself. The haze he was in made her feel proud to be the one to render him speechless.

Here she was, talking about a man she just met as if she was in love with him.

When he felt himself getting too close, he tried to stop her, but she wouldn't have it. She swat his hands away and continued her ministrations, until he suddenly came inside her mouth. Not wanting to clean any mess, she swallowed it as fast as she could to avoid the bitter taste of it. _Spitters are quitters_ , would remind her Ino. He flopped down into her bed and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her face to his and kissing her like a starved man. She didn't pay attention to it earlier, but his mouth had a salty taste, mixed with a musky and bitter taste that must have been from the fingers he licked that were previously between her legs. It wasn't necessarily a pleasant taste, but the action turned her on even more. Taking advantage of him lying there, she kissed his chest, her nails scraping at his nipples, leaving red marks in her path. He pushed her on her back and climbed on top of her, returning her ministrations. Sakura was getting excited as his mouth neared her pussy. When his lips finally settled between her legs, she finally let out a long sigh, followed by a little yelp when he bit her nether lips. His tongue delved deeper, circling her already sensitive nub, as his hands kept her legs spread open.

And suddenly, he turned into a beast, as his mouth ravaged her. She finally understood the meaning of the term "eating-out".

Sakura moaned so loudly that she was sure the whole building heard her, in the middle of the night nonetheless. Her back arched as her hips writhed, but he held her down, the muscles of his back and arms flexing, and his tongue eagerly lapping. She put her head up, staring at the top of his locks, tugging at them, and moving wildly. She felt him groan into her, and came right there and then into his mouth, swearing loudly. He stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and kissed her, while she tasted the bitter taste of her cum. They just laid there, kissing and feeling each other up, Sakura still amazed by his skills.

"Do you have any condoms?" he grunted into her ear, while her hand was stroking him.

"On the drawer to your right," she whispered, pleased with his caution. He detached himself from her to get a pack, wrapping it around himself, and laying down on the bed once again. He looked into her eyes to make sure that she really wanted this, and she simply smiled at him and kissed him. He hovered on top of her, before positioning himself at her entrance, and pushing inside. They both sighed at the feeling, as he sheathed himself to the hilt. He slowly moved inside her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her heels sitting on top of his finely sculpted buttocks. "Faster," she groaned, and he complied. He was moving fast and hard inside her, and she was loving every moment of it. Getting tired of this position after some time, he turned her around, and entered her from behind, while she was on all four. The sounds of her cries were muffled by her sheets, but he wanted to hear all of them. He pulled her up, so that her back was against his chest, while he moved fast inside of her, their skins slapping soundly. She turned her head to press her lips against his, and one of his hands grabbed her breast while the other was rolling her clit gently between his fingers like he previously did, as he learned that she liked it a lot. Sakura thought that she was seeing stars, as she tugged at the locks falling in front of his eyes, while sweat was rolling down his face. He was taking her with raw and passion, and she wouldn't have it any other way if she was to release the built up sexual tension that her _little toy_ couldn't relieve. After what seemed like an eternity, the feeling of his large member inside her, and his fingers around her nub were enough to tip her over the edge. She came harder than the first time, her walls tightening and quivering around his length, but he kept going faster and faster, Sakura crying out at the over-stimulation. He kept stroking her clit, while she dug her nails into his biceps. He came with a groan, teeth sinking deep into her shoulder, and almost drawing blood. Sakura finally collapsed with him on top of her, and laid there for a few minutes to catch her breath. Her pussy was still quivering, and her handsome partner was still inside of her. He got off her to throw the condom in the bin next to her bed. He laid back down next to her as she turned around and laid her head on his chest.

"You know smoking might kill you right?" she said, noticing the cigarette he was rolling between his fingers, reminding her of when they were between her legs.

"What are you, my doctor?" he joked. "Besides, I'm not going to smoke it inside. It's just a habit I picked up. I only smoke when I'm stressed out."

"I might not be your doctor, but I am a doctor actually," she replied. "Were you stressed out tonight outside the club?"

"It's my job," he answered, "I'm a fireman, and today was a very stressful day."

"I get it," she nodded, looking at her ceiling. Her job was stressful as well, and very similar to his. They both saved lives, and they also both lost lives as well. But this night was exactly what she needed. After her break-up with Sasuke, she hadn't really thought about satisfying her needs, but she was glad she stumbled upon the man in her bed.

"I broke up with my boyfriend a few months ago," she started, "I found him with another woman on this exact same bed. I'm glad I replaced that memory with a better one."

"He must have been a real cunt," he judged.

She thought for a moment, "yeah, he was. I feel stupid, I'm still not over him."

"We're all stupid sometimes," he shrugged. _Everything is so easy with this man_ , she thought to herself. She could easily find herself falling in love with him if she got to know him better, and she wasn't sure what to think of that. "I'm taking you on a real date next time," he pondered.

"Why? Wasn't this date real enough for you?" she smirked, looking down at their tangled bodies.

He blushed lightly, scratching the back of his head. "I was thinking that something better than a fast food restaurant should be a real first date."

"I thought it was your favourite place," she giggled.

"I never denied it being a good place, I just think there's better," he answered, kissing the top of her head as she yawned. "You should go to sleep, you look tired," he said, attempting to get up.

She stopped him with her body, holding him down on the bed. "Where do you think you're going?" she inquired.

"Home, I'm going to let you sleep."

"Stay the night, please," she asked him. There was a certain vulnerability in her eyes as she stared at him. She must have been lonely, and as lonely he was, he wasn't going to refuse the offer to spend the night with a beautiful women wrapped in his arms.

"Alright."

Wrapping herself securely inside his arms, she grabbed the covers and put them over them, snuggling into his muscular chest. She was noticing the red marks forming, and she was pleased with herself to say the least.

"I don't even know your name," he murmured into her hair. "I took a beautiful woman to bed and I haven't even asked her for her name."

"I think I'm the one who took you to bed," she blushed, giggling to herself. "Sakura Haruno is my name."

"Well I'll be damned. I was wrong, you're not a rose after all. You're a cherry blossom," he teased.

She punched him lightly in the arm, laughing at how sappy he was being. "You're fond of nicknames as I see."

"What would you rather have me call you? Beauty? Doll?" he smiled.

"Call me by my name, the one I just gave you, if you haven't already forgotten," she suggested, "I'll find you a nickname as well, handsome." Sakura looked up at him, realization dawning into her. "I don't even know your name yet!"

His hand trailed down her arm, stroking it gently.

"Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll make you scream it so much that you'll forget your asshole of an ex's name for good," he whispered huskily into her ear, rolling her on top of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upon popular request on my fanfiction.net profile, here's the continuation to the first chapter. A few details and mistakes have been fixed in the previous one to make place for this one, but no major changes were made to it.
> 
> I would also like to add that this chapter includes another smut, for those who are here for that.
> 
> I would like to thank everyone for the feedback I received, giving me the confidence to write more and the inspiration to continue writing in English despite my uncertainty about it. English is not my first language, but my third, and I apologize for the mistakes. Any constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> If any have any special requests for a few more chapters, or for a separate one-shot, let me know! I plan on writing a few more focusing on Naruto's side, and maybe even add Sasuke to the story. Any request would be welcomed if it speaks to me.
> 
> Enjoy, leave a comment to tell me what you think about it, they will be very appreciated.

**Chapter 2**

_Sasuke?_

Sakura opened her eyes, a moan escaping her lips. She hadn't slept in such warmth and comfort in a long time, and the arms circling her waist were a very welcome weight she hadn't experienced in quite a while.

A face was buried in her neck, and soft lips were pressed against her skin. Blond locks tickled her chin pleasantly, _very soft blonde locks,_ she realized when she ran her hands through them. This wasn't Sasuke's dark black hair, as she previously thought. Sakura was very relieved, but she couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart; Sasuke was not coming back in her life, and she was the one who made sure of it.

 _Although I have no choice but to see him sometimes,_ she thought with a discontented shrug.

Untangling herself from Naruto's embrace, she stretched lightly, feeling a satisfying warm tingling sensation between her legs. She blushed at the memory of her late night's activities with the handsome man in her bed. After all, she wasn't used to bringing strangers to her house, much less to her bed. She had been dating Sasuke since her adolescence, and that was almost 12 years ago. He was her first everything, she didn't have the opportunity or the need to experience when it came to relationships like most of her friends did: her love for him was enough for her.

She made a face at sobering thought _. Apparently not for him._

She picked up clean clothes, making sure not to make too much noise to allow the blond man to rest a bit more, before making her way towards the bathroom to take a warm shower. She needed hot water on her sore skin. After all, the only rigorous activity she had been doing after her break up was going to the gym, and even then, she didn't _always_ go.

-: :-

When Naruto woke up, he was lying on a bed that was much more comfortable than his own, and smelled much better. The sweet aroma of vanilla from the pillow his face was buried in was making him dizzy with content, and the only thing missing was the woman he spent the night with to be in his arms. The sound of running water indicated that she was taking a shower, and Naruto thought that he needed one as well. He thought about joining her, but before he could finish his thought, the door sprang open, and a small prepubescent child barged inside.

"Mom! I'm ba-," the young girl said before coming to a halt, "you're not my mom!"

"Hello there," replied Naruto, tugging the covers closer to his body, uncertain of what to do in this situation. The little girl must have been around ten years of age. She had short black hair and dark eyes framed by red glasses that were staring at him with suspicion. She approached the bed, and stood on the side opposite to where Naruto was sitting, her hands on her hips, judging him silently.

"Who are you? And why are you sleeping in my mother's bed?" she questioned.

"I'm…a friend of your mother?" he offered tentatively.

"Where's my mother? Did you do anything to her?" she frantically looked around.

"I'm here honey," Sakura answered, exiting the bathroom, dressed up in jeans and a white shirt. "Did your father drop you off?"

"Yes, he just left. I asked him to come inside but he refused," she said, defeated. Turning around, she stared at the blond man on her mother's bed. "Mom, why is there a strange man in your bed? Did he hurt you? Is that why you have bruises on your neck?"

Sakura blushed slightly when her eyes met Naruto's, she wasn't sure how to react in this situation, so she just avoided her daughter's question. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. Why don't you go eat something Sarada, you must be hungry. Did your father feed you this morning? "

"What a stupid question mom, of course he did!" she exclaimed. "We ate breakfast together, like we usually do every morning."

"Alright, go wait for me in the kitchen," she said, running out of excuses. "We will talk later."

"But mom!" protested the young girl, trying to resist by planting her heels on the ground.

"No buts," ordered her mother, closing the door behind her daughter after pushing her out of the room. "I have matters to discuss with my… _friend_."

Upon hearing her daughter's angry steps and dissatisfied mumbles, she sighed deeply. She had forgotten that Sasuke could not keep their daughter with him for the whole weekend like he intended to. He told Sarada that he had to fly today for one of his cases, and could not take care of her.

"So, you have a daughter," asked her companion while getting dressed.

"Yes. I'm sorry for not warning you about that, it completely slipped my mind. My daughter can be pretty persistent when she wants to. I hope it didn't bring you any discomfort."

Naruto smirked, buttoning up his shirt. "I must have been really good if I made you forget the existence of your daughter."

Sakura could feel her cheeks warming up. He was right, he was really good. And watching his hands button up his shirt was very arousing. She could almost feel his hands roaming her body and caressing the curve of her back, and the red marks adorning his neck and chest made her feel proud of her work. "Yeah, last night was great, thank you for staying over."

"It's my pleasure, it's not every day I get to spend the night with a beautiful woman in my arms," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Sakura laughed at his antics, he truly had a special personality if he managed to make her laugh so much in the last 24 hours.

"I'm going to make breakfast if you'd like to join us. You can take a shower if you wish," she suggested, pointing at her bathroom.

"I wouldn't want to abuse your hospitality," he said.

She smiled cheekily at him, "I haven't spent a night as good as I did with you in a long time, and it's only fair that I feed you after the _performances_ you gave."

Naruto only laughed at her boldness, he was beginning to really like this woman. "Then I'm not going to refuse the delicious offer."

He tentatively approached her, and bent down to give her a slight kiss that brought back the fire she felt the night before when they were in her bed. When he pulled back, she clutched the front of his shirt and returned the kiss with fervent intensity. He stopped kissing her and stared into her eyes, questioning her actions. But before he could ask her anything, she tugged at his shirt and unbuttoned it before throwing it behind him, where it landed on her bed. During that whole time, Naruto was only silently staring at her, waiting for the next move.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him once again, and he hoisted her up to allow her to wrap her legs around his waist, her back pushed against the wall. The previous night had been great, and she would be damned if she didn't take advantage of the situation one last time, especially with a man like him. Where Sasuke was made of lean muscles and paler skin, Naruto was bulkier, and obviously stronger, especially in the upper body area. His skin was tan, complementing his blonde hair and making his blue eyes shine.

"Shower," she whispered into his mouth. She had always wanted to try sex in there, but Sasuke, even though he was an adventurous man, always argued that it was too slippery, and that he didn't like to stay under the water for too long, claiming it was bad for his skin. When he said that, she used to tease him about being a sensitive teenage girl who paid too much attention to her appearance.

Untangling herself from around the blond man, she offered him a smile and grabbed his hand, dragging him behind her towards her bathroom. She stopped on her way to grab a condom from the box laying on the table. Naruto chuckled, playfully slapping her derriere, and laughed when she let out a surprised gasp. Arriving in front of her shower, she smiled seductively at him and proceeded to remove her shirt, followed by her pants and her underwear, leaving her completely naked for his eyes to hungrily roam her body. Sakura used to be very self-conscious about herself, especially when she was with a man as good-looking and as desired as Sasuke. She used to be flatter at places, especially in the chest area, but she learned to love her breasts, before motherhood came along and filled them up more than she ever wished for. Naruto would say that they were of a good size, and filled his palms nicely. She was of average height, with long soft pink locks and big jade eyes. Her hips were large, probably as a product of child-bearing would argue Naruto, adorned by a few stretch marks. She had a plump butt, and that was his favourite feature.

Naruto mimicked her actions, eagerly removing his clothing as well, and quickly joined her as she entered the shower, smiling at him. They kept kissing, Sakura nibbling at Naruto's lower lip. Strangely, he had soft lips that she had previously thought would be rough on hers.

He knew how to kiss, he knew how to kiss _very well_ , she thought with a sigh, as his mouth roamed her neck.

She grabbed the condom he had in his hand, and pulled it over his member. Kneeling in front of her, he put one of her legs over his shoulder to gain access to her vulva, while she was fumbling behind her back to turn the shower on. Cold water immediately splashed them, and Sakura let out a surprised yelp, as Naruto chuckled with his head between her legs. She immediately reached back for the faucet to adjust the temperature.

When Naruto's mouth connected with her most intimate part, she let out a groan at the pleasant sensation. He was good with his mouth, she concluded. Not only he was a good kisser, but only a flick of his tongue could make her see stars.

Her clit was between his teeth, and his tongue was lazily brushing over it continuously. The cold wall against her back created a pleasant contrast with Naruto's hot tongue. She placed one hand against the wall behind her, and ran the other hand in her partner's wet locks, relishing the soft feel of it between her fingers.

Naruto seemed to like it, and let out a groan, making Sakura moan loudly as it resonated through her core. Turned on by her response, Naruto only increased the pace at which he was ravishing her, welcoming the curses flowing out of her mouth, and the wetness flowing into his mouth. When his finger entered her, she yanked at his locks, as he continued to suck at her nub. He added a second finger, curving his fingers inside her, eagerly caressing her inner front wall. Her legs were shaking at the intensity of the pleasure he was providing her, and she had to struggle not to slip and fall on her bum. The knot in her lower stomach kept tightening as she neared her release, and she knew she wouldn't able to hold it any longer. When Naruto's tongue caressed her clit in an especially pleasant manner, she finally came with a cry, holding on to the wall behind her, as her legs gave way under her. She would have collapsed on the ground if Naruto hadn't gotten up and grabbed her under her thighs, kissing her fervently while she rode out her orgasm. His hardness was rubbing against her core, and she ground against it to make her pleasure last as much as she could.

The water was turning cold, but neither cared much about it at that moment, too wrapped up in their pleasure. When she hooked a leg around his waist, he finally entered her, while she kept kissing him. As he fully sheathed himself inside her, she pulled back and bit her lip at the fullness, and leaned her head against his shoulder. He started to move in a slow and languid manner, unlike the raw passionate sex they had the night before, groaning into her ear. He seemed to want to savour the moment. The movement made the shower shake slightly, and the cold water running against Sakura's body made her shiver, but it felt good as it rolled down her hardened nipples at which she was grabbing.

"Faster, please," she let out in a breath, and he could only comply. She was still slightly sensitive from her previous orgasm, and her pleasure was building much faster than she anticipated. She also knew that he was close, as his groans became louder. When he finally came, the look of pure pleasure on his face was the best look Sakura had seen on him. He entered her a couple more times, determined to make her cum a second time, and the pleasure exploded inside her once again, making her see white. Her whimpers were silenced when his mouth covered hers, and he finally removed himself from her, holding her as she breathed hard. When she finally came down from her high, she chuckled in her pleasure induced haze, staring gratefully at him as he gave her a toothed grin.

"I have to shower again," she mumbled.

"I'll wash your back," he replied back kissing her once again.

-: :-

When Sakura and Naruto finally left the room, Sarada was sitting at the kitchen table, patiently waiting for them with her arms crossed over the table, and a huge cup of milk in front of her. Squinting her eyes at the couple, she frowned when they entered the kitchen, laughing at something, and with the blond stranger's hand on her mother's lower back. They didn't seem to notice her yet, until she loudly cleared her throat, bringing attention to herself.

"Don't you work today, mom?" she questioned.

"I do honey, but today is Sunday. I have a late night shift and I start a bit later," said Sakura, kissing her daughter on the forehead. The stranger smiled goofily at her, while she still eyed him with suspicion. He sat down on the table beside her, and she almost inched away from him.

"So, your name's Sarada?" he asked.

"Yes, but I don't know your name," she said accusingly. "I've never seen you before."

Her mother, who was taking the eggs from the fridge and setting the food on the counter, looked at her disapprovingly. "Be polite Sarada."

"Sorry mom," she grumbled.

A tense silence fell in the room, while Sarada and Naruto seemed to have a staring contest.

"My name's Naruto," he spoke.

"Naruto," she repeated, "how do you know my mother?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "from around," he answered back, while Sakura simultaneously said "from work." Naruto and Sakura stared at each other for a few seconds.

"You're a doctor too?" questioned Sarada.

"No, I'm a fireman."

At his answer, she suddenly looked at him with eager interest. "Really? I want to be a firewoman one day!" she exclaimed excitedly. Sakura smiled, relieved that her daughter's suspicions seemed to completely evaporate as her interest shifted completely. Naruto was just as eager, as he animatedly started discussing his job with her daughter.

"It's a very dangerous job, but I love it, because I get to help people every day," explained Naruto.

"Do you save a lot of puppies and kitties that get stuck in trees?" giggled Sarada.

"Sometimes," laughed Naruto, "but we mostly save teenagers who are reckless enough to climb trees without knowing how to get down."

"I want to save dumb teenagers when I grow old," sighed Sarada dreamily.

"Just don't give up your dream kid," said Naruto ruffling her hair.

"Do you want eggs honey?" questioned Sakura, preparing the plates.

"I already ate mom."

"Alright," simply answered her mom, "can you please set the table for us?"

"Certainly."

Naruto observed the two ladies, noting their dynamic. He barely knew the both of them, but he already liked Sakura, a lot, and Sarada was a very charming young girl who was obviously very protective of her mother.

When his plate was set in front of him, his mouth watered, and his stomach rumbled at the delicious smell. It was an arrangement of eggs, pancakes, toasts, and a few fruits and vegetables. His late night and morning activities had left him hungry, and the sight in front of him was very welcome.

Sakura seated herself on the other side of the table, observing Naruto as he ravaged his food. He seemed to have a huge appetite, and if she wasn't exaggerating, she would say that she was just as hungry.

"How's the food?" she questioned him.

"Amazing, you're a great cook," he mumbled between bites, making her blush lightly. It didn't escape Sarada how much both seemed to fumble when around each other, and constantly steal glances at each other.

When they finished eating, Sakura took it upon herself to pick up the dishes, dismissing Naruto when he insisted on helping her. When Sakura's phone rang, she absentmindedly picked it up to read a text she received from Ino, telling her that she would arrive shortly to pick up Sarada, since there was no school.

"Ino is coming, you better get ready," alarmingly notified Sakura, looking anxiously at Naruto.

"I guess I'm going to leave too," he said, getting the message. "Thank you for the meal, it was great."

He proceeded to get up and walk towards the front door, Sakura on his trail. When they were out of sight, Naruto turned around and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

"I had a great time, and I would like to see you again if that's okay with you," he said, his face red.

She smiled at him, "I would love that. I had a great time too, thank you for turning my boring night into an adventure."

"I'll see you around then," he suggested, bending down to kiss her one last time.

The two exchanged numbers, and Naruto regrettably left her apartment, but not before snogging her senseless, and leaving her breathless. Barely a few minutes later, a knock on the door was heard, and Sakura opened it to be welcomed by her best friend's smiling face.

"Sakura! How great to see you," she exclaimed, hugging her.

"Hello Ino, thank you for watching over Sarada."

"Nonsense, you know the kids love her. By the way, you should have stayed last night, it was getting interesting when the firemen crew arrived to the nightclub. They were so hot," she said, dreamily.

Sakura laughed, walking towards the kitchen with Ino following her. She took a seat, while Sakura offered her a glass of juice. "Sarada is getting ready, she should be here soon."

"No worries, Sai is watching over the twins. The art studio is closed today, so we took it upon ourselves to spend some family time this morning," she answered, taking a sip of her glass. "Have you seen Sasuke recently?"

"No, I haven't. I'm not really looking to see him anyway, you know I'm still hurt because of his behaviour," sighed Sakura. "He ruined our family, and broke Sarada's heart. She looks up to him. Fortunately, I haven't told her the whole story. She only thinks that we've fallen out of love. Sometimes I think that she accuses me of pushing him away."

"It's not fair to you Sakura," said Ino, taking her hand. "You know it's his fault, he chose to sleep with Karin."

"I know, but she's too young to be caught up in this kind of matter. She's only ten years old, and I'd rather not show her the ugly side of love this early in her life," replied Sakura. "Hell, even I would rather not know about it."

"You're still young Sakura, you're not even thirty. You'll find love again," reassured Ino.

"I hope so," replied Sakura, staring into space, "it's just that I've been with Sasuke for so long that I don't know what to do in terms of relationships anymore."

Ino snorted. "Yeah, I can't believe you had a kid with him at eighteen. Who does that?"

Sakura playfully smacked her arms, looking at her teasingly, "don't joke about that, you know Sarada is my pride. Don't forget you were in love with him too back then."

Their conversation was cut short when Sarada showed up, carrying a small bag with the clothes she needed to sleep over at Ino's.

"Mom, did Naruto leave? I still had questions to ask him!" she exclaimed, looking around after kissing Ino on the cheek.

Ino's eyes widened, as she stared at Sakura in surprise. The pink haired woman had at least the decency to blush, looking down at her hands.

"Yes, I'm sorry Sarada. He…had to leave," she mumbled.

"What the hell is going on? Who's Naruto?" eagerly inquired Ino.

"He's a fireman auntie! A fireman!" shouted Sarada. "I found him here when I came this morning, he's a friend of mom's!"

At that moment, all Sakura wanted to do was melt into her chair and disappear. Ino was looking at Sakura with the most excited look she had ever seen on her friend's face, as if she found the Holy Grail. Sarada kept talking to herself, excitedly telling Ino about Naruto's profession, while Ino's smile only widened by the second. Sakura felt like she was going to pounce her at any moment, and eat her alive.

"How come I've never heard of this friend _Sa-ku-ra_? Care to inform me about your new acquaintance?" questioned Ino, putting her chin on the palm of her hands.

"He's a friend I met recently," muttered Sakura, her blushing face buried in her hands.

Sarada leaned over her auntie, whispering into her ear, "I found him in mom's bed this morning, he was naked. I think they had sex."

Sakura shrieked, cursing her daughter's maturity. Ino only screamed of happiness, getting up from her chair and grabbing Sakura, hugging her so tightly she thought her bones would break, and screaming about how proud she was that she finally got laid. Sarada only stood there, a curious expression on her face, wondering what exactly her aunt was screaming about.

"What does he look like? Is he handsome? More importantly, was he _good_?" yelled Ino into her ear.

"Ino!" hissed Sakura, "not in front of Sarada!"

"Don't worry about me mom, I'm going to let you two talk alone," said Sarada, retreating back to her room.

Sakura dreaded this, her daughter was too understanding. She left her alone with Ino, and knowing the blonde woman, she was going to ask her about everything, from the little details to the _big_ ones. And oh boy they were big.

"I'm so glad I dragged you with me last night, you finally got laid!" said Ino, sitting back down, "now tell me how you met him. How come I haven't seen him with the firemen?"

"I met him when I was leaving. He didn't go inside the nightclub. He said he didn't like it much," replied a defeated Sakura, knowing that she wouldn't be able to escape this.

"Only you could bond over your dislikes," said Ino, making a noise that strangely resembled a pig's snort. "How did you manage to drag him here?"

"I didn't," she said. "He drove me here after we ate fries."

"Unbelievable," mumbled her best friend.

"Then I invited him in," she continued, ignoring her friend's remark, "and one thing led to another."

"Was it _good_?" inquired Ino. "Is he _big_?"

"Ino!" she hissed, blushing furiously, before looking at her hands. "He was _really_ good, and before you ask again, yes, he was big, bigger than Sasuke."

Ino squealed loudly, making Sakura wince at the noise. "Is he handsome? What does he look like?"

"He's very handsome," said Sakura, almost dreamily. "He's blonde, tan, and has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. He's the complete opposite of Sasuke. I think my brain has decided to cleanse itself from him."

Ino squinted her eyes at her friend, as if thinking deeply. "Blond you say? Could it be the smiling stranger I saw coming up here?"

"Perhaps, he left a few minutes before your arrival."

"Oh Sakura, you caught yourself a hot piece of ass," giggled Ino. "If I was single, I would do him without hesitation. He is _ripped_. How many times did you guys go at it?"

Sakura reddened, it was all she could seem to do when thinking about her recent activities. "A few times last night, and once again this morning, in the shower. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but he is good, especially with his mouth."

Ino smiled at her friend's demeanour, "you look like a smitten girl to me right now. I hope you guys are going to keep contact after this."

Sakura nodded, "we exchanged phone numbers earlier."

Ino squealed once again, rambling to herself, making Sakura smile. She knew that all her best friend wanted was for her to be happy, especially after what Sasuke did to her. She was a wreck when it happened a few months back, and Ino only supported her and helped her get through it.

"Are you guys done?" asked Sarada, reappearing at the door.

"Yes, you guys better leave," answered Sakura, "I have to leave for my shift very soon."

She kissed her daughter, and hugged Ino, letting them out of the house, while her blonde friend was still babbling to herself on the way and speaking excitedly to Sarada. She closed the door behind them, and sighed dreamily, biting her lip at the thought of the blond company she had last night. She only hoped it wasn't the last time she would see him, but unknowingly to her, he was thinking the same thing.

-: :-

"Thank you Shizune, I'll make sure to bring something."

"Don't miss it this time, find a babysitter for Sarada in advance," insisted Shizune.

"I promise I won't, I'm not missing the hospital's dinner this time," said Sakura, removing her gloves and throwing them in the bin. "You know Sarada was also sick, I couldn't leave her with someone else while I was here, having a good time."

Shizune smiled at her, "I understand, even though I missed your food."

"You know you can come over and eat at mine whenever you want if you miss my food that much," laughed the pink haired woman. "You're the one who never has time to stop by."

"I'm sorry Sakura, but the wedding plans are taking up all my free time," explained Shizune. "Kakashi is too lazy to land a hand."

"I'll kick his ass next time I see him," smirked Sakura, removing her doctor's coat. "I will see you tomorrow then?"

"Yes, and have fun during your date," she winked at her.

"I'll make sure of it."

As she walked down the hospital's hallway, she couldn't help but smile to herself. She had taken special care of herself for her date, putting on her best dress under her coat, and wearing her favourite pair of heels. Two days after her night of passion, Naruto had called her and asked her out. He didn't mention where they were going, except that she would have to dress fancy, but not too fancy, as he wanted her to be comfortable. She chose to wear a simple black dress that was neither too short nor long, and that hugged her figure nicely.

Turning around the corner that led to the exit of the hospital, she was suddenly stopped when two arms circled her waist and turned her around, and a mouth suddenly crashed upon hers, giving her a dizzying kiss. Recognizing the pair of lips, she wrapped her arms around the man's shoulders and kissed him back with equal enthusiasm. When the kiss ended, she opened her eyes and was met with a pair of blue eyes and a goofy smile. Naruto was standing in front of her, holding something behind his back that she couldn't see.

"Hi stranger," he said.

"Naruto, what a surprise," she replied, a huge smile plastered on her face, "I didn't know you were picking me up here. I was going to meet you at the location you suggested."

"I decided to surprise you," he said. His demeanour suddenly changed, as he became starngely shy, before presenting her with the huge bouquet of flowers that he was hiding behind his back. "Here."

Sakura accepted the flowers, thanking the blushing man, and taking a whiff. "Roses?"

"It's the first thing I thought about the first time I met you."

"How romantic," she smiled up at him, taking his hand, "how about we leave now, I can't wait to see what you planned for us tonight."

"Lead the way," he laughed.

When Naruto woke up the next day in her bed once again, Sarada wasn't even surprised when she barged in her mother's room and found him and her mother wrapped up in each other's arms. In fact, she simply gave them a toothy grin and ran out of the room, screaming that she was going to deliver the good news to her auntie, much to her mother's dismay, as Naruto simply laughed, his face buried into her neck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya everyone. I'm finally done with the third chapter.
> 
> It's mostly Sasuke focused, with a lot of information about his relationship with Sakura. More focus on Naruto and Sakura will come in later chapters.
> 
> Thanks to all of you for the support, and the ideas given, I really appreciate it.
> 
> Have a good read!

**Chapter 3**

"Dad! Hurry, I don't want to be late."

The raven haired man glared at his daughter. He was putting on his shoes, and cursing the headache he knew was forming. He hadn't slept enough in the past few weeks, and his internal clock had been shifted. Sarada was too excited for him today, and he had no idea why she was in such a hurry. She would usually try to stay with him as much as she could, as she only saw him three times a week.

His case had been long and tedious, and he ended up staying there for longer than he anticipated, and could not see his daughter for two weeks. The witness who was supposed to testify for his client had ended up bailing out on his team, and he had to bargain with the judge to get more time to present his client's case.

Sometimes he wished he was the oldest sibling so he could have taken over his father's company, and not aimed to be a lawyer.

_Damn Itachi…_

"Why are you so excited Sarada? Did your mother prepare something for you?"

His daughter giggled, "no, not mom. Naruto did. He said he would take me to the fire station!"

The last part of her sentence was screamed right into his ear. Sarada had decided to jump on him and try to tear his head off, while he was crouching and tying his shoes.

" _Fuck_ , Sarada. Please take it easy," he growled, shaking her off.

His daughter looked down on him with indignation, her eyes widening behind her glasses. "Dad! You swore! You owe me money," she smiled in triumph, extending her hand towards him. He rubbed his tired eyes and took out his wallet, taking a bill from it and giving it to his expectant child. He cursed Sakura in his head. She was the one who installed this rule when they used to live together. If only Sarada knew how _much_ her mother swore…

"Who's Naruto?" he questioned, putting on his coat.

"A friend of mom," she replied, putting her newly acquired bill in the small _Avengers_ backpack she carried with her all the time. "He promised to give me a tour at his workplace."

Sasuke raised a single eyebrow, "and when did you meet this Naruto?"

"A few weeks ago," she shrugged, exiting the apartment, her father on her trail, "I see him sometimes at mom's place. He's super cool!"

The two of them made their way to the elevator, and waited for it to come up. Sasuke bought the place in a huge apartment complex, one of the tallest buildings in the city. Because of his family's fortune, and because of his job, he didn't even bat an eye as he signed the paperwork a few months ago when Sakura kicked him out of their former house.

Sasuke was rich, very rich. His father owned a company that owned many clothing lines. When his parents married, they didn't have anything, but their fortune grew from nothing. Their companies took over the world less than a decade after that. Sasuke had always lived in luxury, unlike his older brother who was born in a rougher lifestyle.

When the door to the private parking lot of the building was in sight, his daughter automatically sprinted towards their awaiting car, as Sasuke absentmindedly unlocked it with the key he was playing with in his hand. Sarada jumped on the passenger seat, showing her father a Cheshire smile, and waving at him from behind the glass window. He smirked at her antics, opening her door.

"You know you're too young to sit there, I don't want to get arrested because of this."

She puffed her cheeks, "but dad! You've been saying that for so long! When will I be old enough?"

"Just be patient. Now go to the backseat."

Sarada, knowing that her father expected her to get out of the car and go to the back, simply jumped over the seat and fell down face first, wiggling her way through the gap between the front seats, and mumbling angrily to herself. Sasuke could distinguish bits and pieces of her complaining, and shut the door before sitting in the driver's seat. When he was sure that Sarada put her seatbelt on, he finally started the car, and made his way to Sakura's house.

"Dad, put some music on!" exclaimed Sarada.

"I don't have my CD's with me at the moment. They're in the other car," he simply replied, stopping at a red light.

"What about the radio?"

"Alright."

Sarada started singing along to some pop song he didn't know the name of, but vaguely remembered hearing somewhere. In the elevator, perhaps? He wasn't sure. But he was sure that Sarada did not know the song either, because she was humming some melody that did not match the song on the radio.

Sasuke was glad that he was now on better terms with his daughter. At the beginning, she didn't take the breakup very well. Thankfully, he wasn't married to Sakura, or it would have brought all the legalities into it as well. As a lawyer, he did not want to venture down that dirty road with Sakura.

Surprisingly, as romantic as she is, he would have expected them to have been married for a decade now, but Sakura actually refused to marry him.

" _Will you marry me?"_

_Sakura gasped, looking down at Sasuke who was nervously swaying on one knee. He was holding the box open, where an outrageously enormous ring was sitting. Surely it wasn't Sasuke who chose it, he knew how simple of a girl she was. But she loved Sasuke, and it's the action that mattered to her._

" _Sasuke, I," she stuttered, while he stared at her expectantly, "I can't marry you."_

_Sasuke froze, his mouth slightly agape, staring at her in confusion._

" _But, why? We've been together for a few years now Sakura, and we have Sarada. Is there a reason why you can't marry me?"_

_Despite his stoic expression, Sakura knew that deep down, he was hurt. His ego must have been severely damaged because of her refusal. After all, Sasuke Uchiha always got what he wanted._

" _Sasuke," she said, pulling him up, "your father hates me. What is he going to think if I marry you?"_

_Sasuke's eyebrow furrowed in confusion, "that we love each other and want to become a real family?"_

" _We already are a real family you silly man," she giggled. "What I mean is that your father does not exactly approve of me. We're not from the same social standing, remember?"_

_Sasuke ran his hand through his raven hair in frustration. "Sakura, you never cared about what my father thought about you, why are you bringing this up now?"_

" _Your father has all the money and all the power, you don't have that," she said. Sasuke opened his mouth to cut her off, but she stopped him immediately, "and before you say anything, the money you have does not belong to you, it's his money. How exactly do you plan on paying for the marriage? We're both only university students, we can't exactly cover the costs of a wedding."_

_His eyes bore into hers, "you know as well as me that money is not the problem. We could just sign the papers and get on with it without anyone else knowing. Cut the crap Sakura, what is the real reason here?"_

_Sakura crossed her arms in front of her, "there's no real issue, Sasuke."_

" _Don't do that, I can see right through you. You've always talked about getting married, why are you changing your mind now?"_

" _I don't know Sasuke," she shouted, getting angry, "why are you changing your mind now? You've always told me you'd never get married!"_

_Sasuke, despite being a lot more calm than Sakura, was feeling frustrated as well. "Sakura, tell me."_

" _I don't want your father thinking that I'm marrying you for the money! He already thinks I've ruined your life because of Sarada! " Sakura was now screaming, tears forming in her eyes. "How do you think things are going to be like when I'll have your last name? Marrying you means more responsibility to your family! To your father! How do you think I will feel when your father's disapproving eyes will bore into mine every time my full name will be announced?"_

" _Sakura, quit it. These reasons are not good enough, my father does not care about that," he sighed._

" _How would you know that? I can see it Sasuke, every time we go see your parents, he either ignores me or stares me down!"_

_Sakura was now a mess, tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her face was red._

" _Trust me Sakura, my dad really doesn't give a flying fuck."_

_She suddenly quieted down, wiping her wet cheeks and looking at Sasuke a look of comprehension passing through her face. A grin formed on her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes. It was devoid of any emotion. She stared to laugh, a dry humorless laugh leaving her lips, to Sasuke's utter surprise._

" _Oh I see now, I see perfectly well," she said, "daddy's perfect little boy. So your father's the one who sent you? Just by the ring, I knew this wasn't your idea. Really, the Sasuke I know would never do something like this, much less nervously. Your daddy asked you to do this to save his reputation-"_

" _Stop this, Sakura," he hissed._

" _-because an Uchiha cannot have a child out of wedlock," she sneered. "Why not throw us into the mess that this forced marriage is going to be? Of course, you would always follow your dad's orders, his-perfect-little-soldier-"_

" _I said enough, Sakura!"_

_At that moment, Sarada's cries started, echoing through the apartment. Sakura gave him one last look before making her way towards her baby's room to tend to her needs. Their conversation was going to have to be pushed to another day…_

As it turns out, they never talked about it again, which was fine with both of them, because they didn't want to get married in these circumstances. For Sasuke's father, it was another story. When Sasuke told him about her refusal, he almost burst a vein in anger, had not his lovely wife, Mikoto, convinced him that it was not a big deal. It was the twenty-first century after all.

As much as his father had wanted him to marry one of his associates' daughter, his desires had had to be put aside after Sasuke finished high school. Sasuke had met Sakura when they were very young, and she was instantly infatuated with him, as much as her 7 year-old heart could understand love. He remembered being constantly exasperated by her when she used to follow him everywhere and nag him. But that didn't stop them from getting closer through high school, and start dating when they were fifteen years old. Nonetheless, Sarada was a complete surprise.

_When Sasuke entered his dorm room, he was not surprised to see Sakura there. The advantage of being rich and attending a boarding school was that he had all the privacy he needed, and that he could bring anyone he wanted to his room. It was very easy for him and Sakura to see each other. Sakura was attending the same university, despite not being able to afford it. But as determined as she was to stay with her Sasuke, a smart woman like her was able to get a scholarship, and be accepted easily with the grades she had. So there they were, at the beginning of their first year in university._

" _Sasuke, I have something to tell you."_

_He noted the way she was fidgeting, playing with the hem of her shirt, and looking at her feet. Nervousness was showing through her behaviour, and she refused to meet him eyes, preferring to stare around her or at a general area in his chest._

" _Hn?"_

_She took a deep breath. "Well, I have a problem, I mean, we have a problem. I really wasn't expecting something like this to happen. I tried to be as careful as I could, but I guess no one can ever be one-hundred percent safe-"_

" _What is it Sakura," he sighed._

" _Remember how I was throwing up every morning last week?"_

_He nodded._

" _I, well, there's a reason for that, and not a pretty one either."_

" _Are you pregnant?"_

_Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, letting go of her shirt, and bit her bottom lip in worry. "Yes, I'm so sorry Sasuke."_

_He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "It takes two to tango Sakura, it's not just your fault."_

_The two stood there, staring at each other in an uncomfortable silence, while Sakura was on the verge of crying. "I would understand if you don't want to be with me anymore after this."_

" _Of course not, Sakura. It happened, and we can't change that. I'm not going to leave you because of this. Now we have to figure out what we should do about it."_

_He sat down on his sofa, looking up at her in a silent invitation to join him. She sat down next to him._

" _I don't know what to do Sasuke, we're still young, and we're still in school."_

" _I will respect your decision, you're the one carrying it-carrying the baby."_

_Sakura bit her lip. "Well, we have a few options. I could either get rid of it, keep it and give it up for adoption, or keep it and raise it. Since we're in school and all, I thought that it would be better to abort it, we're not responsible enough for it yet."_

_Sasuke laughed. "Responsible? Sakura, we're both adults, and you're the most responsible person there is. You're smart, and I have money. You could easily go through med school while pregnant, and I can support the baby."_

" _Sasuke," she started, "shall I remind you that the issue has a bigger extent? It's not just about school and money. Your father doesn't even approve of you dating, he doesn't know about us. What is he going to think when the news reach him?"_

_Sasuke shrugged, "it's not going to reach him. You said you wanted to get rid of it, no?"_

" _I said I was thinking about it."_

As it turns out, Sakura kept it, and Sarada was born a few months later. He was glad it turned out that way, because Sarada was his world, but he wasn't happy when his dad got the memo. He was lucky he didn't get disowned. He almost laughed at the irony of the situation when his father had met Sarada for the first time. She was a few weeks old, and he had held her in his arms, staring at her in awe. He instantly fell in love with her, even though he refused to admit it.

Parking in front of Sakura's building, he scowled. She had refused to move out of their former house. She claimed that she liked it, because it wasn't too fancy. She was the one who had chosen the apartment, as she instantly fell in love with it the first time she saw it. She even signed the papers with her name, and he had had no choice but to leave it to her. Not that he was complaining, he liked his current apartment a lot more.

"Alright dad, I'll see you in a few days," said his daughter, kissing his cheek.

"You don't want me to come upstairs with you?" he asked.

Sarada stared indignantly at him, "of course I do! But you always say no. So I figured that asking you this time would be pointless." She suddenly blushed, fiddling with her fingers. "Also, I forgot to ask you. I was too excited about going to the fire station."

 _This Naruto has really gotten to her head, and I am definitely not jealous_ , he thought, displeased.

"I'm going to come upstairs with you, I need to speak to your mother."

Sasuke got out of the car, and followed Sarada inside, who was walking excitedly towards the door. In all honesty, he had no idea what he was going to tell her. He just agreed to accompany Sarada on a whim. He didn't want to admit it to her, but he really wanted to see Sakura. He never went inside, as he was too guilty to face her, but the mention of this _Naruto_ had made him curious. He had obviously won over his daughter, so he must have also won over his ex. Had she already moved on, or was he simply a friend, as Sarada told him? He knew that he didn't have the right to poke his nose into her business anymore, after the _stunt_ he had pulled on her. But he also knew that he still wanted her.

When Sarada knocked on the door, claiming that she had forgotten her key, Sasuke straightened his back, feeling nervousness seep into him at the thought of seeing Sakura. What he didn't expect was for a tall grinning blond man to open the door, a _shirtless_ tall grinning blond man. He definitely _wasn't_ Sakura's friend.

"Naruto! You're already here!" Sarada screamed, as the man ruffled her hair.

"I was waiting for you, small one," he laughed, his eyes looking at Sasuke. "You must be Sasuke, I presume?"

"Hn," replied the Uchiha.

"Sakura told me that you weren't very talkative," he chuckled. "She's in the shower, do you need to speak to her?"

Sasuke was stunned at the familiarity with which he was speaking to him. He was way too comfortable, standing at Sakura's apartment's door. That didn't please him, not _one_ bit.

"Dad, this is Naruto, he's super cool," said Sarada, making her way inside the house. Sasuke simply nodded, following her, and sat on the couch. Looking around, he noted that she had kept most of the furniture. He wouldn't blame her, it was nice and expensive furniture after all.

Sarada was talking animatedly with Naruto, and the stoic man felt a bit protective over her. She seemed to be getting along with him really well, _too_ well.

When Sarada left the room to gather her things, the two men stayed alone in an uncomfortable silence. Sasuke almost wished that this Naruto would put on a shirt. Not that he was envious or anything, he was pretty confident in his body. He trained regularly, but the blond man was obviously in better shape. He guessed that it was due to his job. Firemen had to be strong, and the body had to come with it.

"So," Naruto broke the silence, clearing his throat, "you're a lawyer, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I hope you don't mind me taking Sarada out," laughed Naruto, albeit a bit uncomfortably. "Sakura suggested the idea, she thought that it would give Sarada a nice peek inside the job."

"No, I don't mind," he simply answered.

"Doesn't it bother you that she doesn't want to follow in your steps?"

This guy was already treading on dangerous grounds, and Sasuke felt annoyed at his over-familiarity. He gave him a cold stare, indicating that he wasn't in the mood to chat, and replied with a simple _'no'_ , effectively shutting him up.

-: :-

When Sakura exited the shower, she walked in on a rather surprising situation that she never thought she would experience: her new boyfriend was sitting in front of her ex-boyfriend in a heavy silence, while the latter was staring almost menacingly at the blond man, who seemed to be at loss about where to look. It almost made her chuckle, when she furrowed her eyebrows. Why exactly was Sasuke in her house?

"Sasuke," she started. She could see Naruto's face light up at her arrival, and Sasuke could see it too.

"Sakura," he nodded back. Her hair had gotten longer than it was the last time he'd seen her, which was almost four months ago. Her smile was a change from the anger and the disappointment she had on her face when he had last seen her.

"Is there anything you needed?"

She was really trying to be civil in front of Naruto, but he could see the stiffness in her posture.

"Hn. I just came to say hello, I'm going to be on my way now."

Just as soon as he got in, Sasuke got up from the couch and left the apartment, leaving a flabbergasted Sakura and a confused Naruto behind.

"Well," started Naruto, kissing her on the cheek, "he was every bit as the way you described him."

Sakura watched as Naruto made his way out of the apartment, following Sasuke, and catching up with him while he was waiting for the elevator. Sasuke was very surprised to see him.

"Wait," said the blonde man, "I wanted to tell you something. You obviously still care a lot for Sakura, and I wanted to say that I will do my best to make her happy."

Sasuke squinted his eyes at the man. "Sakura and I are not together anymore, I have no business in knowing anything about her love life."

Naruto snorted at him, "obviously not. You're the one who broke her heart. I had to buy her a new bed to force her to throw the old one."

Sasuke glared at him, stepping inside the elevator. Naruto's hand stopped the door, before he continued speaking. "Look, I like her a lot, and I like Sarada too. I don't want you to despise me because I'm getting along with your daughter."

Sasuke simply nodded, before Naruto backed away. The door closed, and the last thing Sasuke saw was Naruto's smile. Exhausted from this encounter, he laid back on the wall, contemplating his mistakes.

-: :-

Sasuke later sat in his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Seeing Sakura had woken up a multitude of feelings inside of him, and he wasn't sure how to react, so he just fled from her house. Her new boyfriend was a peculiar man, and he didn't know what to think of him.

Still parked in front of her apartment, he saw Sakura, Sarada, and Naruto leave the building. Sarada was jumping excitedly in front of them while they held hands, smiles plastered on their faces. Naruto gave Sakura a slight kiss on the nape of her neck, causing her to giggle, and Sasuke felt his heart twist painfully in his chest. He knew he had made a grave mistake when he took Karin to bed, but he couldn't take it back.

_Walking up the stairs, her feet were almost skipping from excitement. She had been able to get the afternoon off after begging Tsunade, explaining to her that there were no more patients who needed her to tend to their needs. She had reluctantly accepted, promising her that she would have to stay an extra shift the following week. Sakura had thanked her profusely before running out of the hospital._

_She hadn't spent a lot of time with Sasuke lately due to their jobs. He had been away for a few days in a neighbouring city for a case, and she had had to stay late for her shifts. She had only been a doctor for merely three years, and she was focused on building her reputation as a good one. Because of that, she was yearning for his touch. They hadn't slept together in nearly three months, especially with Sarada as the focus of their attention._

_Arriving at their house, she opened the door with as little noise as possible, holding in her excitement. She had called Ino to tell her to keep Sarada for the night, telling her that she wanted to spend a romantic afternoon with Sasuke. Ino happily obliged, telling her that she was glad that the lingerie she had gotten her for her birthday wasn't going to waste after all._

_Tiptoeing through the dark hallway, she noticed the light coming from their bedroom. Perfect, she thought. Sasuke was probably on the bed, going through his cases. She could easily surprise him by tackling him on the bed._

_Approaching the door, the noises coming through caught her attention. Sasuke was groaning, and loudly._

_My, what a pervert. I hope he's thinking about me._

_Giggling to herself, she almost opened the door, when another noise stopped her in her tracks: it was a moan, and a feminine one, followed by a giggle. Sakura could not believe what her ears were hearing. He had brought a woman to their bed, the same bed they both slept in, and where they made love countless times._

" _Oh Sasuke, you have such skilled fingers," moaned the woman. I know, Sakura almost screamed at the door. She was sure that she recognised who it was, but could not put her finger on the owner of the voice._

_Her hand was on the knob, afraid to open the door. But she did it nonetheless, her curiosity winning over._

_Sprawled on the bed was Sasuke, laying on his back, and a red haired woman sitting on his lap. Both were very naked, and Sasuke had his fingers between her legs, a cocky smile playing on his lips. Two opened packs of condoms where on the floor, and she was sure they would have used more if she didn't come._

_They both froze when Sakura barged inside the room, the woman hastily jumping off his lap and covered herself with a sheet. Sakura was almost jealous that he sported an erection that stood proudly in front of him, but she could swear that she saw it slightly deflate._

" _Oh my God," gasped the lady. Looking up, Sakura met Karin's eyes. She was Sasuke's secretary. It was so cliché that she would have laughed if her heart wasn't breaking into a million pieces._

" _Sasuke," she whispered, tears in her eyes, and her hand in front of her mouth._

" _Sakura," he sputtered. In any other upsetting situation, she would have reacted strongly, getting angry and probably using her fists. But she was stuck into place, staring at them with wide eyes, and that's when Sasuke knew that he fucked up, and fucked up big._

_Without a word, she made her way to her closet, picked up all the clothes hanging inside, and stuffed them in the bag that was sitting on the ground. Turning around, she made her way out of the door, the two other occupants staring at her. Sasuke hastily got up, put on his underwear, and caught up with her when she was walking through the kitchen._

" _Wait," he said, grabbing her arms._

_She yanked at it, releasing it from his grip, and gave him the coldest stare he'd ever gotten from her. She wasn't even crying, and that's what really upset him._

" _Don't touch me," she hissed. "Don't fucking touch me with the same hands that were inside her cunt."_

" _Please Sakura, let me explain-" he started._

" _There's nothing to explain. You fucked another woman in our bed, what more is there to say?" she said, laughing humorlessly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave this house. You better be gone by tomorrow morning."_

_As he was starting to protest, she left the house. She was too shocked to think about what had just happened, so she aimlessly drove through the night to Ino's house. She didn't shed a tear, until Ino opened the door. Looking worriedly at Sakura when she saw the distress on her face, she asked her what was wrong, and the pink haired woman simply threw herself into her arms, and burst into tears._

_Back as the apartment, Sasuke was roaming the kitchen, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He felt like a fucking idiot who couldn't control what was in his pants, and he hadn't felt this guilty in his entire life._

" _Sasuke?" said a small uncertain voice. "Are you coming back to bed?"_

" _Leave," he grunted._

" _But-"started Karin, wrapping the sheets tightly around her in confusion._

" _I said leave!" he shouted angrily._

_In fear, Karin ran back inside the room, quickly putting her clothes on, and hurriedly left the house. Before she left, she cast a last look at Sasuke, who was sitting on the couch. He held his head in his hands, and she almost felt guilty for him. Almost._

Looking back at it, Sasuke felt incredibly immature. Karin had approached him that afternoon in his office, flirting shamelessly with him like she always did. Usually, he would have ignored her attempts, but that day, he was feeling neglected by Sakura because of her job, and incredibly sexually frustrated. His first mistake was to even consider her offer, before he bent her over his desk. His next mistake was to drive her to his house, _their_ house, because he _knew_ that Sakura wouldn't be there until late.

Staring at the couple, Sasuke put on his seat belt, and drove back to his apartment. He was thankful that Sakura seemed to have found a man who would treat her right. He hoped, at least, that he wouldn't make the same mistakes as he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who read it, give me feedback, I love to read your thoughts on the development.
> 
> Lately, I have been writing more, and have published a very long one shot on my profile for the Fairy Tail fandom. If anyone is interested, you can read it on my profile, and give me your thoughts about it. It's a Natsu/Lucy centered story. It starts angst-y, but has a happy ending. It also includes a smut.
> 
> I'm incredibly proud of that story, as much as I am proud of this one, and it would be great to receive feedback for it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight fun and shorter chapter, before things get serious.  
> Includes another smut.

**Chapter 4**

 

"Don't you think that the relationship is moving a bit too fast?"

Sakura sat in front of Ino, taking advantage of the sun's warmth and drinking wine in the blonde woman's backyard. Sarada was with her father, and Sakura had the afternoon off, which was quite rare for a doctor like her.

"Please," Ino snorted, "not all of us have the privilege of dating our childhood sweetheart, let alone have a kid with them. You've been out of the dating world for so long that you don't realize yet that most relationships nowadays start with a one night stand."

"I'm not so sure about that," deadpanned Sakura.

"Just look at Sai and I, we met online and now we have two adorable twins!"

"But you've been exchanging messages with each other for months prior to meeting," Sakura whined.

"Plus," Ino continued, choosing to ignore her best friend, "it's not like you guys are moving in together. You're just seeing each other. Which reminds me, I absolutely have to meet this Naruto. He sounds delightful by the way Sarada goes on about him."

Sakura smiled, "yeah, he's really good with her. She's always talking about him, I feel like she has met a new best friend, especially since he's working in her dream field."

"It's strange," Ino wondered, "it's a rarity for a girl her age to be interested in such a career. When I was young, I dreamed about becoming a renowned model."

"And look at you now," laughed Sakura, "talking about strange when you're the one who joined the force."

"Your dream was to marry Sasuke, forehead."

"I was twelve!"

"Besides, I love my job," continued Ino with a cocky grin. "It's especially flattering when I shove my cleavage in the window of some unsuspecting speeders. You don't know how many times I had to raise the fine for misconduct or sexual harassment."

"Don't you think that's abusing your power, _officer_ ," smiled Sakura.

"It's not my problem if men can't keep their hands to themselves," answered Ino, taking a sip from her drink. "To tell the truth, these men are a great help, as bad as it sounds. I'm trying to climb up through the ranks. All these arrests and tickets are a great help to my reputation and to my personal file. Getting into the FBI is not a piece of cake, Anko has repeatedly warned me about how tedious it would be."

Sakura nodded, before giving Ino a questioning look. "What does Sai think about you wanting to join the FBI?"

"You know him," sighed Ino, "he was pretty passive at first, but now he can't wait for the pay to increase, that heartless asshole."

Sakura laughed at her friend's exasperated tone. As talented as Sai was, being an artist was not always the most stable career. Ino had informed her that the pay often fluctuated, depending on the demand and the exhibits willing to display his art.

"Now tell me, how was that visit to the fire station?"

"It was great," Sakura said. "It was enlightening, even for me. As expected, Sarada was ecstatic. She couldn't stand still."

" _It's a fire truck!" screamed a young girl, storming inside the garage, and alarming the few individuals sitting around._

" _Sarada," hissed an embarrassed Sakura._

" _It's okay," chuckled Naruto, tightening his grip on her hand. "I was a lot worse the first time I visited the place."_

" _Definitely," laughed a voice behind them. Turning around, Sakura was met by a young man of average height and brown hair, sporting a cocky grin on his face. "Who's this lovely lady you brought with you?"_

" _This is Sakura, my girlfriend," answered Naruto, holding her protectively against him by the waist. "Sakura, this is Kiba."_

" _Enchanté," he smiled, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it. "How did a beautiful woman like you end up with an idiot?"_

" _Who are you calling an idiot, you imbecile?" replied a half-amused half-angry Naruto._

" _I'm surprised you even know that word."_

" _Some of us went to college, Kiba," snarled Naruto._

" _Come on boys," said a feminine voice, "put those dicks back into your pants. We're not going to argue like children here."_

_Whipping her head around, Sakura saw a short woman making her way towards them, carrying herself confidently. She was not the only one who noticed the newcomer, because Sarada ran back to her mother's side after inspecting every inch of the firetruck standing behind them, and looked at the blonde woman with wonder in her eyes._

" _I thought you didn't work today, Naruto," said the woman, focusing on the man by Sakura's side._

" _I don't work indeed. I'm giving Sakura and her daughter a tour of the place. Sakura, this is Temari."_

" _Pleased to meet you," said the rose, extending her hand to shake Temari's. "Pardon my forwardness, but you're the first woman I've seen around here since I arrived."_

" _I am the only woman working here, and let me tell you, it's incredibly tedious to be surrounded by so much testosterone all day long"_

" _As if," Kiba retorted, putting his arm around Temari's shoulders. "I'm confident that you relish looking at the sweat rolling down our muscular bodies after a long day of training."_

_Temari elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and making him wince and hold his midriff in pain. "Muscular," she scoffed, giving him a bored look, "what use are these muscles if your abs are not even able to bear a small hit like this?"_

" _Control your strength, woman," Kiba said, a whiny edge to his voice. "This is why we don't have other women here."_

" _Does that mean that I'm never going to become a firewoman?"_

_All heads turned to the small child who was clutching a hand to her chest. She was on the verge of tears, looking at Temari with hopeful consideration. The latter hunched over, putting a hand on Sarada's shoulder and giving her a tender gaze._

" _Of course not, you can be whatever you want to be. A lot of women are afraid to work in a field like this where most employees are men," she smiled, before giving Kiba a reproachful look, "but you have to break these boundaries."_

_Sarada nodded furiously, hypnotized by Temari's words, determination filling her eyes. "Then I will do everything I can!"_

" _That's a good girl," Temari patted her head, standing up. "I like her."_

"Oh how I wish I were there," Ino sighed dreamily, gazing inside her nearly empty cup. "All these bulky and ripped men just get me going."

"You're married, Ino."

Ino shrugged, "there's no harm in looking, as long as my hands are kept to myself. As handsome as Sai is, he is very lean as well. A girl sometimes still wants to gaze at some protruding chests and biceps."

"He wouldn't be happy to hear that," giggled the rose.

"He doesn't care. He knows I love him."

"I remember when you used to date the captain of the football team," pondered Sakura. "You were all over _those_ muscles. You made a big leap going for Sai."

"What can I say, his carelessness and indifference won me over. I like challenges," winked Ino.

As the two women continued remembering their high school days like old ladies, the patio's door swung open and a small child ran outside, laughing heartedly at something. He jumped under the table where Sakura and Ino were seated, and made himself comfortable, leaning between his mother's legs and chuckling to himself, causing the table to shake lightly. Ino peeked at him and gave him an annoyed look, trying to swat him out of there when the door swung open for a second time, revealing a breathless little boy identical to the first one.

"Mom!" he screamed. "Where's Inojin? I can't find him! He stole my candy!"

The culprit giggled, earning a tug on his blond locks. "How many times have I told you that stealing is bad?"

"But I ate all my candy," replied Inojin, his eyes filling up with tears. "It's not fair that he still has candy and I don't!"

"You had you share, kiddo."

"It's fine," interrupted Sakura before they could get into any more arguments. "I have candy with me."

"That's why you're our favourite auntie Sakura!" screamed Inojin, his eyes sparkling with delight as Sakura dug for the sweets inside her bag.

-: :-

"Sakura?"

"Hum?"

"I'm horny again."

"I'm tired, Naruto."

The blonde man, who was facing the woman's bare back, draped his arm over her middle and brought her to his torso. She let out a little whimper at the contact, feeling his hardening length poke her backside. She felt his mouth on her shoulder, leaving a trail of light kisses up to her ear, and she let out a pleased sigh, snuggling closer to his muscular chest. She wiggled her butt, and a groan resonated in her ear, awakening the desire in her lower belly once again.

"Are you sure you're tired?"

Turning around, she caught his lips with hers and kissed him slowly, but deeply. It was the type of lazy and soft kiss that one would enjoy in the early mornings while keeping their eyes closed to block out the sunlight and the rest of the world. The type of kiss that happens only when one is comfortable in the arms of someone they know cares about them.

Rolling on top of him, she laid in his arms, her mouth connected to his in exploration. Hums of content would echo through the room from time to time. Sakura only had her thong on her, refusing to put anything that resembles a bra inside her house to let her breasts free from any form of constriction, and Naruto didn't mind it all. On the contrary, nothing pleased his eyesight more than his beautiful girlfriend roaming the house clad in only little panties that barely hid anything from his hungry eyes.

Sakura laid her head in the crook of his neck, enjoying the way his fingers were tracing the curve of her spine, making her shiver from delight. There was a speck of finesse in the way his fingers would trail on her body, giving the impression of an artist trying to memorize every little curve of her skin only by touch. Sakura was dozing off, and could have fallen asleep right there surrounded by the warmth emanating from his body if his hand didn't drop lower and firmly grasp a handful of her backside with a resonating _slap_ , resulting in a surprised squeal from her.

"What the hell?" she shrieked, "I was having a moment here!"

"But Sakura," he complained with a pout, "you were falling asleep, and I told you, _I'm_ _horny_."

"You are such a romantic," she scoffed, laying her head back on his chest.

"You still love me," he laughed, his chest shaking from the action. Sakura froze up at his words. Surely she didn't love him, they're been together for only seven months, and it was a bit too early to call it love, wasn't it? But then again, how could she know. All forms of romantic love she had experienced revolved around Sasuke, and she never knew when her foolish and immature infatuation with the raven haired male turned into the deep scorching love she felt for him, before he broke her heart.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?" he answered, toying with the hem of her underwear.

"Have you ever been in love?"

Naruto stopped his ministrations, contemplating her question for a moment, and wondering where it came from. "Why are you asking?"

She laid her palm flat on his chest. "Don't be so defensive, I was just wondering."

There was a moment of pause before Naruto continued playing with her panties, pushing them to the side to run his fingers along her slit. "I'm not sure."

She raised her head to look at his face. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he started, "I used to date this girl, and things were pretty serious between us, but I never came around to realize if I really loved her or not."

Sakura put her arms around him, kissing the juncture between his neck and shoulders, and playing with the few wild hairs at the nape of his neck. "Tell me more about it."

"We met in high school, and she was pretty much instantly head over heels for me, at least that's what she told me. She seemed a bit obsessed at times, but she was really shy. I never knew she liked me, even though she fainted every time I talked to her."

"Talk about dense," laughed Sakura. "That sounds exactly like you."

"Hey don't be mean," he growled teasingly, playfully slapping a cheek with the hand that wasn't between her legs, stroking her lazily. "We dated towards the end of high school, and for a few years through college."

"Why didn't you last?"

He paused. "Hinata was a lovely girl, too lovely. She would never get mad at anything, and she should have. I was a wild guy back then."

"You still are," giggled Sakura.

"I guess I am," he laughed. "And that's the thing, she would put up with anything I would throw at her. It wasn't fun, it wasn't playful, and she gave too much while I gave too little. I just ended up feeling too guilty to even do anything, I just had to end it."

Sakura hummed in response, scratching his chest and leaving a red mark when his fingers grabbed at her clit in a forceful manner. "I can't believe a good girl like that would put up with your antics for so many years."

"But you're no good girl, _Sa-ku-ra_ ," he growled into her ear, yanking her underwear from her. The sharp direct contact of his fingers with her opening caused her to sharply inhale and moan in pleasure when these same fingers curled inside of her. He had disturbingly talented fingers. Sakura knew that if she had the choice and the power, she would lay there forever or until his fingers would make her see stars. But she wanted to show him how _bad_ she was.

She put herself up, causing his fingers to come out of her, and grabbed his shaft with in a firm hold, making him groan in the process and grab her hips with an iron grip. Sakura simply stared at him without moving a muscle, while he was looking at her with hungry eyes.

"Hands off, Naruto," she ordered. "I'm not going to do anything until you remove your hands from my body."

"But-"

"Then I guess I will just get up and leave-"

"Ok, ok," hurriedly replied Naruto, laying his arms diagonally from his body on the bed.

"That's a good boy," she smiled at him, running a finger over the sharp edge of his jaw. Still holding his shaft in her hand, she ran it up and down the length, watching as Naruto's body shuddered in pleasure. Sakura ran a finger over the top of his cock, spreading a copious amount of precum on it after paying particular attention to the slit. His delirious hands grasped the sheets as if his life depended on it, muttering curses under his breath. He wanted to tell her to go faster, because she was stroking him at a rhythm that was impossibly slow, and his body was shrieking in need. The teasing smile on her lips made him want to reach out and throw her underneath him before fucking her senseless until she wouldn't be able to walk for weeks.

Pulling herself up on her knees, she hovered over his penis, before sinking _slowly_ on it, engulfing him whole. He desperately wanted to run his hands on every inch of her body, but he wanted the pleasure to last.

When he was completely inside of her, Sakura stopped moving, enjoying the feeling of being stretched by such an impressive man. She reached for his face, kissing him tenderly, and laid on his chest. Her hips started moving slowly, _oh so slowly_ , and Naruto resisted the urge to pound her down harder on him.

Sakura kept holding him to her chest, rolling her hips in a circular and steady motion, her clit rubbing deliciously on his pubic bone with every roll. Naruto was sweating from frustration. He could feel the pleasure slowly building, but he felt like he would never reach it. Sakura sounded like she enjoyed the rhythm, whimpers escaping her lips, and her nails digging into his shoulders and scraping at his chest. He moved his hips up to meet her thrusts, and she swore into his chest, her nails scratching him painfully.

"Sakura! That hurt, you have to cut those nails," he groaned.

"I'm sorry," she laughed.

Putting herself up, she got on her knees and started going up and down on him, but still as slowly as she previously did, which did not please him in the least. When he moaned a complaint, she hushed him by rolling her hips, and the air left his lungs at the pulsating pleasure he felt from the movement. A film of sweat covered his body, and the chilly air coming from the open window send tremors through his body.

Putting her head back, Sakura slowed even further, barely moving, and Naruto started slamming his hips upwards to gain back the friction he so desperately ached for. His relentless pounding into her made her walls quiver with pleasure, and all forms of inhibitions left her body as Naruto reached his summit, waves of pleasure rippling through his body with every thrust. Sakura increased her pace, seeing him come apart underneath her, almost crying at how close she was. Her hand reached between her legs, pinching at the engorged bundle of nerves, until her body reached its high. Her legs trembled, and her knees gave out from underneath her. She fell on his torso, her body shuddering slightly at the quivering sensation at her inner walls.

"You know how to make it last," murmured Naruto. "I needed release so bad that I though my soul was leaving my body."

"It's a change from your fiery and relentless rhythm," she chuckled. "Now I don't want to get up from this place."

"Come on," he kissed her temple. "How about we make something to eat? I'm getting a bit hungry."

"You only think about food and sex anyway," she snorted, getting off him.

"That's not true!" he argued, getting up from the bed.

"Whatever," she laughed, running away from the room.

-: :-

"Hey, did that guy visit again?"

"What guy?" asked Sakura, watching the blond man munch on his food.

"Sasuke."

She shrugged. "He drops by sometimes."

"Did he ever tell you what he wanted?"

"No, he never did," she answered.

As surprising as it was to Sakura, after Sasuke and Naruto met, Sarada's father had dropped by her house a few times when he brought Sarada home. Being the man he was, Sasuke barely exchanged any words with her. He only greeted her, kissed his daughter, and left the house, as if he were in a hurry. She still didn't know why he bothered with coming anymore, as he perfectly knew that she didn't want to see him at the moment.

"He doesn't stay long," Sakura continued, "and I don't need to see more of him anyway."

"What a dick," Naruto said, picking up his plate to place it in the sink. "I don't like him, and I've only met him once. He looks like he has a stick up his ass at all times."

"He's a lawyer, they tend to be uptight."

"I'm going to take a shower," said Naruto, kissing her on the temple before making his way out of the kitchen. "You can join me if you want?"

Sakura groaned. "I think I'll pass. Knowing you we won't just shower, and I need to be able to use my legs."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," laughed Naruto heartedly.

Shaking her head, Sakura smiled lightly, content that she was able to spend some quality time with her blond man. Any woman would love to have those muscular arms wrap around her, and those striking blue eyes stare at her with adoration. Even though she didn't know where her adventures with him where leading them to, she knew that Naruto had a soft spot for her, and loved spending time with her. She really liked the man as well. What was there not to like? But the extent of her emotions was unknown to her, even after dating him for quite some time now.

Walking around the house and collecting the stuff laying around, Sakura noticed a curious little envelope under her front door. She picked it up and looked at the name, and saw that it came from some governmental institution. Surely it had something to do with taxes. She put it on the dining table and resumed her cleaning, mumbling to herself about her daughter's messiness. Sakura was not a messy person, and Sasuke was even less, so she had no idea from where her little girl had inherited such a trait. She left everything everywhere: games, books, magazines, and even clothes sometimes.

"Listen Sakura," said a voice. Naruto was standing at the door, a towel wrapped around his waist, and a towel in his hand that he used to dry his wet hair. Sakura stared appreciatively at the water droplets falling down his chest, making their way between the muscles of his stomach, and disappearing underneath the towel after following the happy trail of dark blond hairs.

"What is it?"

"I was thinking that since it's been quite some time now, maybe I can take you and Sarada to meet my parents," he suggested.

"Your parents?"

"Yeah, if you're okay with that," he said, rubbing his neck embarrassingly. "My mom would love to meet the both of you."

Sakura pondered for a moment, before smiling at him. "I think that would be a wonderful idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it, leave a comment :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's a new chapter, a bit longer. I hope you guys enjoy it! Leave a comment !

Naruto had insisted on driving them to his parents' house in his car, complaining that Sakura's was too big and not comfortable enough for his taste. She had reluctantly agreed, knowing that he would get his way nonetheless, and placed her bag beneath the driver's seat.

"Sarada, get in the back."

"Alright mom," complied the young girl, jumping inside the car. "Did you bring food? I'm going to get hungry on the way there."

"I did, I have your favourite," smiled her mother, a bag of her daughter's favourite biscuits dangling from her hand that she later stuffed inside the bag. Turning to Naruto who was checking the front of the car, she asked him, "How long is the drive going to be?"

His head popped out from behind the hood, giving her a wide boyish grin. "Five hours if we don't stop."

"That's so long," whined Sarada, sinking further in the backseat. "What am I going to do for five whole hours?"

"We'll figure it out," smiled her mother, sitting in the front seat.

Naruto closed the hood of the car, judging that the car was ready, and wiped his hands on the towel that was dangling from his pocket. He made a quick trip to the house to wash his hands, before coming back and settling in the driver's seat.

"You know, it took me seven tries to finally get my license," he declared, starting the car.

Both ladies stared at him with a mix of surprise and fear in their gazes. "Mom, I think we're going to die today."

"Of course not sweetie, Naruto knows how to drive very well, right?" Sakura gave him a pointed look.

"Even if I didn't, it's too late for you guys to change your minds," he laughed loudly, engaging in the highway.

"I can't believe this, I didn't even get to become a firewoman, and I'm already so close to death," whined Sarada, trying to lie down in the back seat as much as her seatbelt allowed her to.

"Hey, I've made this drive tens of times before," spoke Naruto, falsely offended. "I know it by heart, don't you trust me by now?" He turned around to look at the young girl, but Sakura grabbed his chin to turn his face towards the road.

"Focus," she started. "You might be a good driver, but I don't want to die because of your recklessness."

"Alright, alright," he pouted. "You're no fun Sakura."

"I am plenty of fun," she gave him a teasing smile. "You should know that better than anyone."

"Mom!" screamed Sarada in disgust, making a face. "I don't want to know about that! That's disgusting!"

"You don't even know what I was talking about," inquired Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm almost eleven!" screeched the young girl, "of course I do! Please keep your sex life as far away from my ears as possible."

"Come on," Sakura rolled her eyes, red tinting her cheeks. "You're awfully whiny today."

"Your mother is pretty loud," started Naruto. "Even if we wanted to keep it away from your ears, it would be pretty impossible."

Widening her eyes, Sakura hit him in the arm, making him wince in pain. For such a delicate looking woman, Sakura was very strong. She was very aggressive, and knew how to pack a punch from all the times he teased her and she ended up hitting him.

"This is hell," muttered Sarada to herself, blocking her ears with her hands. "I should have never come with you two. Sexual education was a mistake, I'm too young to know all of this."

"When you grow up, you'll realize that knowing all of that is pretty handy- _what the hell_? Stop hitting me Sakura!"

"Stop being a pervert! She's too innocent for this!"

"I'm not listening to what you guys are saying," sang Sarada in a falsely joyful voice, her hands still covering her ears, and her eyes closed.

"You can stop now. We're _definitely_ not talking about that here," pointed her mother.

"Alright, but can we still put some music?"

The three continued talking and singing as Naruto drove to their destination, laughing at Sarada's antics and the anecdotes from school. Looking at the two others, Sakura felt as if she had gotten back the family she had lost more than a year ago. Even then, Sasuke was never very playful with Sarada, and preferred to take on the role of the stricter parent, leaving it to Sakura to lighten up the mood. Plus, it was always very tense in the car when they went to visit Sasuke's parents. It would always go badly, especially since Fugaku never seemed to like her. She was a bit apprehensive about meeting Naruto's parents as well, but knowing him and his lively personality, his parents must be joyful, as they raised him to become the perfectly good man he was after all, and no strict of abhorrent parents could bring up a man like him.

"Sakura," asked Naruto, bringing her out of her reverie. "Can you please keep my cigarettes with you?"

Sakura looked at his extended hand, holding a nearly full pack of cigarettes, and shoved it inside her bag. "Sure."

"Thank you," he responded. "I don't want to be tempted to smoke one when we're at my parents'. My mother hates it, and I don't want the smell to stick to my clothes," he said, noticing her questioning look.

"Well, your mother isn't wrong after all. Smoking _is_ bad for you."

"I've barely done it lately," he argued defensively. "I've only smoked two from this pack, and I've bought it more than a week ago!"

She chuckled. "That's good. For a fireman, I'd think that you would hate smoke, but here you are."

"I'll quit one day," he promised, flashing her a wide grin.

-: :-

Somewhere along the road, the car stopped in front of a gas station so that Naruto could refill his gas tank. Sakura was peacefully sleeping in the front seat, and Sarada was yawning, having been woken up when the car came to a halt.

"Wait here, I'll be back," said Naruto, exiting the car.

"I have to go to the bathroom," replied Sarada, following him out of the car and making her way towards the little store next to the station.

"Don't take too long," warned Naruto. "We'll be on our way very soon!"

Sarada smiled back at him, hurrying inside the store. The door opened with a loud ringing noise, alerting the person dozing off on the counter. The young girl, who must have been barely an adult, jolted up in surprise and knocked a few pens sitting inside a cup. Franticly looking around for the source of her disturbance, she noticed the little girl standing in front of the door and staring quizzically at her.

"Hi!" started Sarada. "Do you have a bathroom here?"

"Yeah, go straight ahead until you see a brown door. It doesn't lock, so be careful."

Sarada thanked her, making her way towards the little bathroom. The girl was right; the lock was half hanging in the door, and she had to sit down on the toilet with her upper body hanging low to be able to keep the door closed with her arm outstretched in front of her.

When she was done, she hopped off of it, and wiggled her way back inside her pants, before washing her hands and making her way out. The store was pretty small, and there was a lot of food available, mostly packed food for travellers, as it was situated in the middle of a highway between cities. There were also small hardware appliances, and something caught Sarada's eye. Smiling widely, she made her way towards it and took it off the shelf. The girl at the counter was closely watching her, while twirling a brown strand of hair between her fingers.

"How much is this?"

"Three dollars."

Sarada sighed in discontent. She barely had a dollar with her, mostly the product of a few cents she found around the house while she was playing, and leftovers from the last time her mother gave her some money. Looking out of the window, she noticed her mother's boyfriend frame. He seemed to be waiting for her to come back, and was standing in front of the car with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Her mother's pink hair was noticeable through the window, peeking from the front seat. She's still sleeping, perfect.

Running outside, she asked the blond man to give her a few dollars, which he obliged easily. She made her way back inside and bought the much wanted object, and ran outside with a mischievous grin on her face.

"So what did you get there little one?"

"Something really cool," snickered Sarada, opening the plastic bag to show Naruto what was inside. A similar grin to hers formed on his face at the sight of the little object. Pulling him down to her level by his shirt, Sarada whispered her plan in his ear, and Naruto positively beamed. He loved Sakura's kid.

-: :-

Sakura was sleeping peacefully when a screeching and alarming noise suddenly woke her up from her slumber. She jolted up in surprise, a scream leaving her lips, and accidentally knocked her head on the roof of the car. She felt dizzy from the sudden movement, and disoriented as to where she was at that moment. Rubbing the sore spot on her head, she heard snickers coming from behind her, and narrowed her eyes at the familiar voices. Turning around, she saw Sarada and Naruto laughing in the backseat. Naruto was laughing so hard that tears where streaming down his face, and Sarada seemed to be having a hard time breathing, letting out light squeaks from time to time.

"What the hell guys," started Sakura angrily. "Why did you do that?"

Sarada stopped laughing for a moment, trying to regain her composure. "Mom-the look-the look on you face!" she said between small giggles and oxygen intakes.

"Very mature," retorted the pink haired woman, turning her gaze to her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry Sakura, I couldn't help it," he replied, sobering up, before he started laughing once again. "Actually-I'm not sorry at all. Your daughter is a bloody genius!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes, hunched over the seat, and started pinching her daughter's cheek, resulting in a pained moan from the dark haired girl. "You little devil, I knew Naruto would be a bad influence on you. And what was it that made that horrifying noise, and woke me up from my slumber?"

Sarada chuckled, her face contorting in a tight grimace due to her cheeks being deformed by her mother's hand. Taking a small red horn from behind her back and showing it to her mother, she grinned widely. "I bought this!"

"And where did you get the money from young lady? I hope you didn't go through my handbag," said Sakura menacingly.

"Of course not, mom!" shouted Sarada alarmed and terrified. "I would never do that! Naruto gave me money."

Her menacing gaze turned towards Naruto, who swallowed in fear, before Sakura jumped on him and proceeded to teach him a lesson.

-: :-

 _Welcome to Suna,_ read Sakura. It was one of the biggest cities around, even bigger than Konoha. Naruto had informed her that his parents had moved there after he had moved out of their house. He had finished his training to become a fireman, and had to move out and live in an apartment closer to the station in case of emergencies.

Suna was very big, but its population was merely a third of Konoha's due to being mostly a desert, and due to its incredibly hot temperature. The Uzumaki had moved there to enjoy the calmer environment, leaving the hectic lifestyle they had Konoha.

"Welcome to _mi casa_!" shouted Naruto, getting out of the car.

"It's not _tu casa_ , it's _la casa de tus padres,_ " replied Sakura with a laugh, poking him in the rib.

"Same difference," pouted Naruto, shifting away from her. He had learned not to mess with her, as she discovered a secret weapon she had used on him previously when he gave Sarada some money for her prank: tickling him until he was _begging_ for her forgiveness. He opened the backseat's door for Sarada, who groggily jumped out of the car, rubbing her eyes and incoherently muttering to herself. "We're lucky it's quite late, or we would be sweating buckets at the moment."

Sakura made a face. "Lovely."

Sarada yawned noisily, stretching her arms above her head and looking at her surroundings. "So, we're finally here? Whoa, what a nice house!" she shouted, rapidly making her way towards the wide doors in the white fence surrounding the place.

"Not so fast," her mother's voice cut through her shouting, and Sarada felt a tug on the back of her dress. She was suddenly yanked back, her mother's hand finding her forearm and holding her firmly in place. "You can't just barge inside like an animal, this is not our house or your father's house."

"Sorry mom," she replied grumpily.

"Let's go ladies," said Naruto.

Behind the fence door, a house of average size stood, most of it painted in brown, and its windows painted in white. The white of the windows was turning brown as well, due to the sand sticking to it as a result of the various sand storm that hit Suna almost weekly. There was a small balcony next to the front door, where two swinging chairs stood with a small table in between. A small cactus plant in a bright green pot was on the ground right next to the door, and Sakura could see a small flower protruding from the thorny plant, growing despite the less than favourable conditions. Sakura stood with Sarada right behind her blond partner as he rang the door, his hands in his pockets waiting patiently for one of his parents to open it. After a few seconds, steps could be heard from inside the house, and the door opened gently, showing a blond man slightly shorter than Naruto.

"Kid!" said the man. "Welcome home!"

"Dad," acknowledged Naruto as enthusiastically, hugging his father. They looked almost exactly the same, except that Naruto had slightly shorter hair than his father, and seemed to be much more energetic.

"And who are these lovely girls?" asked is dad, looking over Naruto's shoulder.

"This is Sakura, my girlfriend, and her daughter, Sarada."

"Ah yes, of course," smiled his father, shaking Sakura's hand and ruffling Sarada's black hair lightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, you can call me Minato."

"It's nice to meet you as well," smiled Sakura, while Sarada showed a toothy grin to the older man.

"Come inside, we don't you to be standing outside like this. It's getting dark and cold."

Following Minato inside, Sakura couldn't help but marvel at the way their house looked. It was very warm and welcoming, and tastefully decorated. At every corner of the house, there was something, whether it was a table or a stand, which were also adorned with various things such as magazines, journals, or vases. The house was full, unlike Sasuke's parents' house, which she visited rarely, and which was always cold and seemed very empty.

"Minato!" shouted a feminine voice from the kitchen, "who's there?"

"Your son," replied Minato, albeit not as loudly as the woman, who was probably his wife. Loud and quick footsteps followed, and a smiling woman entered the living room a few seconds later. She was shorter than Sakura, and had long flowy red hair and grey eyes. Her waist was adorned with a white apron.

"Naruto!" she screamed, lunging at her son and holding him tightly in her arms. "It's been so long! You'll be visiting once every ten years at this rate!"

Naruto pouted, untangling himself from her embrace. "You know it's not true mom, I've just been busy at work."

His mother's happy expression turned into anger a second later, before she hit him over the head with her fist. "You're late! You were supposed to be here two hours ago!"

"But mom," he whined, rubbing the back of his head, "we had to stop to eat on our way here."

Sakura laughed, surprised at the fact that such a small woman could manhandle Naruto so easily. Her boyfriend seemed to be governed by the women in his life, whether it was his mother, herself, or even Temari, who was his teammate at work.

The lady's gaze turned to her, and the smile that previously adorned her lips returned to her face. "You must be Sakura, Naruto keeps talking about you every time we call him!"

"Mom!" boomed an embarrassed Naruto.

"Oh shut it boy," his mother scorned him, before her soft gaze returned to her face. "Naruto was right, you are one gorgeous girl!"

Sakura blushed profusely at the attention, looking at Naruto tenderly. A mere second later, she found herself in a bone crushing embrace. Was all his family this _aggressive_?

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to meet the woman who stole my little boy's heart!" exclaimed the woman dramatically. "And your daughter, what an adorable little thing! Naruto was never this lovely when he was young!"

It wasn't long until a shy and quiet Sarada, who was beaming at the compliments, found herself in the same position her mother was previously in. Struggling in the woman's arms, Sarada was looking at Sakura, begging for help, while the three other people present in the room laughed at her misfortune.

"Th-Thank you ma'am," stammered the young girl, after the woman released her from the embrace.

"Oh shush, don't call me ma'am," she waved her off. "Call me Kushina. You're part of the family now!"

Sakura could not stop the warm and fuzzy feeling from taking over her. Minato and Kushina seemed welcoming and understanding, and she had never felt so appreciated in her whole life as when they had accepted her with open arms, and with no judgement when it came to her daughter as well.

"Why don't you all come to the kitchen to eat? We wouldn't want all the food I made to go to waste."

"Yes!" screamed Naruto, bolting towards the kitchen.

-: :-

"So, how did you two meet?"

Naruto almost choked on his food when he heard his mom ask this seemingly innocent question. His father, seated on his right, gave him a strong pat on the back, allowing the food stuck in his throat to continue on its way down. He grabbed the glass of water sitting in front of him, and gulped it down, attempting to calm his nerves and attenuate the blush on his face he felt rising up at the memories of their first night of passion.

"Are you okay kid?"

"Yes," he coughed lightly. "Sorry dad, I was too focused on the food. The question took me by surprise."

He felt Sakura chuckle on his left, and gave her a lopsided grin, noticing the teasing glint in her eyes.

"I don't know how you met either mom," asked Sarada in a small voice.

"We…" started Naruto, putting his thoughts together, "we met at my favourite restaurant. We were both out with mutual friends, which we ditched and ended up meeting there, where we ate together."

"That's not awfully romantic," teased Kushina.

 _Nothing was romantic about the mind-blowing sex we had_ , inner Sakura laughed.

"He was a real gentleman," she smiled. "He was very nice and polite, and we clicked instantly."

"He better be a gentleman! I've raised him to be one myself!" roared his mother, almost leaping out of her seat. She was a very explosive woman, tending to the angry side, while Naruto's explosiveness tended to the playful side.

"He's very loving," reassured her the rose haired woman.

"I still can't believe my immature son managed to snag a girl like you," laughed Kushina, after calming down. "Remember Hinata? It took him years of seeing her faint because of his mere presence to notice her feelings!"

"He was pretty clueless," added Minato with a chuckle.

"Yeah well I'm all grown up now," pouted Naruto. "You're acting like I'm a kid who doesn't know anything about women, I'm twenty-eight!"

"Trust me son, we're very thankful that you outgrew your immaturity. I have so many stories about your childhood, I bet Sakura would love to hear all about your shenanigans."

"Oh absolutely, Kushina," Sakura said, exchanging a mischievous look with the woman. She was getting too comfortable with his mother, and they got along too well for Naruto's taste. This only meant trouble, trouble for _him_.

"Mom," he whined.

"Don't worry," said his father. "It's going to happen sooner or later, all those photo albums are just patiently waiting now. Better let them go through them now and get rid of it, ne?"

"I guess," he mumbled, taking a huge bite from his plate and observing the two women chatting together. He was glad that they got along very well. He knew that Sakura never really had a mother figure in her life, as her parents had died when she was very young, and Sasuke's mother barely interacted with her. If he recalled correctly, the closer she had to a mother was Tsunade, the head of the hospital she worked at. He hoped that she felt reassured, as he knew that she felt worried that about getting along with his mother, but seeing them interact so easily and comfortably made him happy, even though he showed the opposite.

" _Do you think your parents are going to like me?"_

_Naruto stared at her in incomprehension, a questioning look on his face at her strange inquiry. He was sitting on the bed, after one of their numerous escapades, putting on his socks, while his girlfriend was standing in front of the huge mirror in her room, applying foundation to the numerous marks he left on her neck._

" _Of course Sakura!" he shouted with a laugh. "Why wouldn't they?"_

" _I don't know-I mean, I'm a single mother separated from the father of her child to whom she wasn't even married," she replied, turning around and looking at him. "Aren't they going to think that I'm bad news?"_

_He sighed dramatically. "My parents don't care about that. All they care about is that I'm dating a nice woman, and that I'm happy." He paused. "You make me happy."_

_Sakura smiled softly at him, her heart missing a beat, before making her way towards the bed and kissing him lightly on the mouth. "Thank you, you always know the words I need to hear."_

" _Anything for you." With that, he grabbed her hips and dragged her towards himself, until she was straddling his waist, her hands on his chest, and her face hovering over his._

_She smiled down playfully at him. "What do you think you're doing?"_

" _Kissing you," he replied, sealing his mouth over hers._

_She replied eagerly, seeking his warm touch and welcoming embrace, and putting her arms around his neck to bring her body closer to his. They stopped kissing when they ran out of breath, and Sakura laughed playfully at the young man, small giggles erupting from her chest._

" _What?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows._

" _I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work. I just took a shower, and I have to leave for work in less than an hour."_

" _But Sakura," he complained, dragging her name, "we have plenty of time for a quickie."_

" _Nuh-huh," she slapped his chest. "I don't want to shower again. And before you say anything, yes I need to shower. I don't want to reek of sex while I'm hovering over a patient."_

" _But it'll teach your patients that you're taken, some of them are too hands on with you," he growled possessively, a primal glint in his eyes._

_Sakura felt herself shiver with excitement, desire starting to pool once again in her lower stomach. "Do you know how much that turns me on?" she muttered, her lips ghosting over his._

" _Damn it." With that, he stole her breath once again, pushing her down on the bed and claiming her for a second time that morning._

When the residents of the table finished eating, Minato got up first, proposing to clean the table and wash the dishes, before Kushina insisted that he spent time with his son. The two left the kitchen, going to the living room to sit and talk. Sarada, preferring the company of books, bolted out of the kitchen when the huge library in the house was mentioned, and went to explore the huge collection Kushina claimed Minato had.

"I'm going to help you," smiled Sakura, getting up from her seat and picking up the dirty dishes sitting on the table.

"Thank you dear," responded Kushina, preparing the water in the sink. She watched as Sakura picked up the plates and brought them to the counter. So far, she liked the girl. She was very respectful and lighthearted, and seemed to really like Naruto from all the looks they've been exchanging while eating.

"Tell me Sakura," she inquired. "How old are you?"

"I'm nearing twenty-nine," she replied.

"And how old is Sarada?" she pressed on. She noticed the way the pink haired woman flinched, suddenly standing more stiffly, and furrowing her eyebrows. But the smile on her lips didn't seem to leave her face.

"Sarada is ten years old, although she constantly reminds me that she's _ten years and nine months_ old," she laughed, copying her daughter's high pitched voice.

"You've had her at eighteen then," Kushina said pensively. "That's very courageous, it must be hard to take care of a kid at such a young age."

"Yeah, it was hard," replied Sakura. Although she was wary of the older woman's judgement, she couldn't distinguish any hint of distain in her voice. "I managed, and she grew up into a lovely little girl. Her father helped a lot as well."

"I don't want to seem pushy, but would you mind telling me about her father?"

"Oh no, it's fine," she smiled fondly. Naruto's mother had the same reassuring aura around her as the blond man, and she found it very easy to confide in her. "His name is Sasuke, and he's very loving with her. He's a very good father, and he took good care of Sarada and I when we were still together. We had a very good relationship before we split."

"You seem to have loved him a lot," Kushina noticed.

Sakura sobered up. "I did. I was very much in love with him. He was the only other man I've been with, and unfortunately, our relationship ended on a very bad note. When I met Naruto, it was well over half a year since I broke up with Sasuke, and I was in a quite bad place. Naruto's entrance in my life has lifted my spirits a lot."

"I'm glad to hear that," laughed Kushina, passing a washed plate to Sakura to be stored in the cupboard. "Naruto tends to have that effect on people, he has the kindest smile I've ever seen, much like his father, and a heart of gold."

"He does," smiled Sakura.

Kushina suddenly turned towards her, looking into her eyes with seriousness painted on her face. "I hope you're serious about him. He seems to like you a lot. He's very sensitive, and I urge you not to break his heart."

Sakura looked at her with surprise. Of course she knew that about Naruto. Nobody spends more than half a year with someone without learning one or two things about them. She smiled tenderly at the woman. "Don't worry about it, I would never do that to him. I like him a lot as well, and honestly, I don't know what I would do without him in my life."

Kushina's gaze softened again. "I'm glad to hear that. He's a good man, and you seem like a good girl. I want you both to be happy."

"He makes me really happy," replied Sakura, recalling the same words leaving his mouth.

-: :-

"We're sleeping here?"

"Yes," said Naruto, putting a big blanket on the bed.

"I thought it was hot in Suna, I don't think we need a blanket," observed Sakura.

"Trust me Sakura, it gets cold _as fuck_ during the night. You'll freeze your ass off."

"Alright, you know better than me anyway," she said. "Why didn't we sleep in your room?"

"That room is on the hotter side of the house, it's better for Sarada," he answered. "You don't need that, you have me to warm you up _all night long_."

Approaching her predatorily, Sakura squeaked in surprise, before backing up. Her back hit the wall, and Naruto soon found himself standing right in front of her, his hands on either side of her head, and his breath fanning her forehead.

"Stop that," she said firmly, although her voice quavered slightly. "We're not having sex with your parents in the next room."

"Come on Sakura," he whined, removing himself. "We're just going to have to be ultra-careful with the noise."

"I don't think I have the capacity to contain my screams when that mouth of yours does sinful things to me," she smirked, watching his jaw almost hit the floor at her bold remark.

She slipped away while he was still in his shocked state, picking up her clothes on the way, and entered the bathroom to get ready to sleep. When she got out, dressed in her pyjamas, Naruto was lying on the bed under the covers, patiently waiting for her. She made her way to the other side of the cushion, and slipped under the blanket with him, snuggling to his side while he put an arm around her. Sighing in content, she watched as he turned the light on his bedside off, and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. A few minutes later, both were deeply asleep.

-: :-

"Goodbye Kushina, take you for receiving us," smiled Sakura, hugging the woman.

"It was my pleasure dear, come back anytime you want," she replied, hugging her back. "Take care of our Naruto, he tends to do stupid things sometimes. And try to convince him to stop smoking, that idiot!"

"I heard that!" shouted the subject in question from the car.

Sakura chuckled. "I will, he's already decreased his cigarette intake. I hope you'll be able to make it for Sarada's birthday. I will send you both an invite when time comes."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," said Minato, standing by Kushina's side. He crouched to be on Sarada's level, wincing on his way down. "I'm starting to get old. My back is hurting me from this simple action," he laughed.

"Old or not, you're still as sexy as when we were twenty," laughed his wife, making Sakura smiled at the loving interaction.

Pulling something from behind his back, he showed the object to Sarada, watching her eyes light up with excitement. "This is a book I bought for Naruto when he was really young. It has everything you need to know about being a fireman-"

"Firewoman," corrected him the young girl.

"Ah yes, firewoman. Sorry for my mistake. He's too old now, and I think that you will find everything you need inside. Take care of it."

"I will!" she shouted in delight, hugging the older man around the neck. A laugh escaped his lips and he hugged the little girl back before letting her go and standing up once again, wincing slightly.

"Have a safe drive," he told Sakura.

"Thank you, we will see you soon hopefully," she waved back, making her way towards the awaiting car with her daughter, who was skipping in content, holding her newest book to her chest.

"I think she's going to make him really happy," said Kushina.

"I believe so too, I think they're both going to make him really happy," replied her husband, holding her to his side and watching the car drive away.

-: :-

Singing to herself, Sakura made her way inside her house. It had been a few days since she had come back from Naruto's parents' house, and the little visit seemed to have made her feel closer to him than before, after learning so much about his family and his childhood. The memory of him complaining when his mother was telling her about his adventures as a kid and as a teenager made her chuckle.

She put her keys on the counter, and opened the fridge to pour herself a glass of orange juice. Her day at the hospital had been long and tedious, and she had to stay later than usual because of an accident. A young man and a young woman, barely eighteen, had been driving on a motorcycle when there was impact with a truck. Surprisingly, the truck driver was the one who died, as he was trying to avoid the motorcycle, resulting in him drifting off the road and the truck rolling upside down. He had died on impact, his head hitting the window and his skull cracking. Despite the threatening injuries the boy and the girl suffered from, they had put through after hours of intensive care.

Taking a gulp out of the glass, she noticed a letter on the counter. It was in the corner, and she had completely forgotten about it in the last few days. Picking it up, she proceeded to open it, wondering who the hell it was from, until she read the title at the top. _Superior court of Konoha: Case hearing._

 _Strange,_ she thought _. Does this have anything to do with Sasuke?_

Scanning the page, her widened in surprise; It had _everything_ to do with her ex-boyfriend, but not because he was a lawyer. It was for different and far more alarming reasons.

By the time she had finished reading the paper, she had to sit down to avoid collapsing. Her legs felt wobbly, and her eyes watered. She had to put a hand in front of her mouth to avoid throwing up. She reached for her phone, her hand trembling, although she was sure her whole body was shaking. She was now crying, loud sobs leaving her mouth.

" _Hello? Sakura?"_

"I…Ino," she stuttered between sobs. "Is Sarada with you?"

" _Yes, she's sleeping with the boys. Is anything wrong? Why are you crying?"_

"Good, good. Keep her there," she said between intakes of breaths.

" _What is it? Tell me what happened!"_

Ino's voice was getting more and more alarmed. "I got a letter. Oh God Ino, I can't believe what the letter said. I feel so betrayed!" cried out Sakura.

" _A letter? Who was it from?"_

Taking a deep breath, Sakura ran a hand in her pink locks. "It was from court. It's Sasuke. He wants _full_ custody of Sarada."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for being patient.  
> This chapter has a lot more angst, and before anyone reads, trigger warning for sexual assault.  
> It's nothing extreme, but if anyone's sensitive to that, please be careful while reading.  
> Anyone I'll stop typing, and peace out. Hope you enjoy this!

Ino impatiently tapped her foot on the elevator's floor, her eyes raised to the little number on top of the door that kept changing as she passed more floors. After she had dropped Sarada at her mother's house, Sakura had called minutes after she had sat down on her desk at the police station, rambling about the court calling she had to attend later in the day. As her best friend, Ino had obviously promised to make it in time and accompany her to assist to the hearing, and give as much support as she could.

As the elevator stopped on the 11th floor, the door opened, and Ino darted out of the cubicle, making her way towards Sakura's apartment. She knocked, and Sakura's voice resonated from inside the house, telling her to come in. She pushed the door, and was pleased to see that it was opened.

On the floor were three pairs of shoes: Sarada's blue running shoes that she usually wore, Sakura's hospital footwear that she claimed was really comfortable for running around from patient to patient all day long, and a male black pair of shoes that she did not recognize, but suspected to be her boyfriend's. The boyfriend that she had never gotten the opportunity to meet yet, even though he had been dating her best friend for more than half a year.

"Sakura?" she said hesitantly. She would usually just barge inside as if she owned the place, but she wasn't particularly fond of being scolded by Sakura when her supposedly hot boyfriend was with her. She wanted to make a good impression after all, and maybe scare him a little bit if needed.

"We're in the kitchen, Ino!"

Making her way towards them, she passed by the living room, and noticed the many opened files and books on the low table in the middle of the room. She chuckled to herself, rolling her eyes at the messiness, and walked into the kitchen.

Sakura was sitting down at the table, her leg shaking with anxiety, while a tall blond _specimen_ was standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders with care. It didn't seem to calm the pink haired woman, as her face was scrunched up in an expression of worry.

"You okay?" asked the blonde.

"Could be better," she sighed, laying the back of her head on Naruto's stomach. "Ino, meet Naruto. Naruto, this is my best friend Ino," she said, pointing at her. The blond man grinned, leaving Sakura's side to stand in front of the other blonde and shake her hand, and Ino understood why Sakura was so wrapped up with him. The man was _gorgeous_. He towered over her, making her feel a lot smaller than her 5'7", and the white shirt he was wearing deliciously outlined muscles that almost made her regret the countless nights she spent with Sai on her sofa, eating junk-food and watching _Friends_.

His grip on her hand was firm, and his hands were large. "Nice to meet you, Ino."

"It's nice to finally meet you as well. Although I would have preferred it to be in better circumstances," she joked almost shyly, and cringed at her self-consciousness. She was a married woman for God's sake! She was Ino Yamanaka, former heartthrob and major heartbreaker!

He laughed noisily, showing a set of pearly teeth. She vaguely remembered Sakura telling her that he smoked, and wondered how he could keep them in such a healthy state. "I couldn't agree more. Thank God you're here, Sakura had been a pain in the ass, moaning and complaining all morning. I told her it would be fine, but she wouldn't listen."

They heard a weak protest coming from the subject of the remark. "She tends to overreact. Sasuke has no case against her, I can't think of anything that could work in his favour."

"He's a lawyer," grumbled the rose, "and a good one. No, scratch that, a _great_ one. Do you know the rate of failure he has? Two-percent, two- _fucking_ -percent! It's almost nonexistent! I've spent many nights watching him dig up the darkest and deepest secrets of his clients' enemies, and he knows everything about me! Who knows what he'll come up with?"

At that point, Sakura was almost screaming, holding the edges on the tables in a firm grip. Naruto swiftly made his way towards her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Ino could see her friend relax under his touch.

"You should not worry too much about it. The case is going to be dismissed as fast as it reaches the judge. Anyone can see that Sasuke is just trying to be petty and get back at you for breaking up with him."

There was a pause for a few seconds, before Naruto face lit up with joy, a sign that Sakura recognised as being an illumination for one of his pretend great ideas.

"That's it!" he shouted. "He cheated on you, you could definitely use that against him!"

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. "I never thought such a logical thought could cross your mind."

He sat down on the chair across from her, pulling his tongue at her and pouting. "That's mean Sakura, I'm always smart."

She ignored him, putting her face on her crossed arms on the table. "I thought about it, but I'm not sure it would work."

"Why is that?" asked Ino. "I think it's actually a great idea. The judge might think that Sasuke's mishap is bad influence for a kid her age."

"It wouldn't apply here, as Sarada doesn't know what happened between Sasuke and I. Plus, only a few people know that he cheated on me. Most think that it was a mutual break up that would benefit the both of us."

"What?" exclaimed an astonished Naruto, staring at her with wide eyes. "Why would you omit that? People should know it was that bastard's fault!"

She laughed humorlessly, nervously running a hand through her bangs. "It's complicated."

"Nothing complicated about a man breaking his partner's trust," shrugged Naruto. "He slept with his secretary, I think that he deserves anything that comes his way."

"I promised him I wouldn't bring it up," sighed Sakura, rubbing her temples. Ino could see dark circles under her eyes, and she knew it wasn't because her attractive lover kept her up all night.

"That's stupid," he blurted out angrily, and Ino felt like she was in the middle of a lovers' quarrel. "Why would you promise him anything?"

"Don't tell me what to do or judge my actions when you don't even know what happened," she snapped back just as angrily.

"Hey, no fighting," stopped them Ino before Naruto could open his mouth. The couple stared at each other for a few more seconds, before Sakura huffed in discontent.

"Sorry, this is all stressing me out and I took it out on you."

"I'm the one who started it," he said nonchalantly. "I should be apologizing, I wasn't there when it happened after all."

Sakura smiled softly at him, and he couldn't help but return the gesture, taking her hand in his and squeezing it. Embarrassment washed over her face when she remembered that Ino was in the room with them, and she mumbled to herself about going to the bathroom before fleeing the kitchen.

"This is the most civilized argument I've seen her have with anyone," said Ino.

"It's not always this civilized," Naruto cheekily replied with a wink, crossing his muscular arms over his equally muscular chest.

"It's better than her arguments with Sasuke. They weren't very pretty, and the aftermath wasn't this positive. Sasuke would sometimes go days without speaking to her."

"The more you talk about him, the more I dislike him," growled Naruto, leaning back on his chair, and urging her to continue with a nod.

"He was pretty fine most of the time, but it was obvious that she gave him more than he did."

Naruto thought for a moment, scratching the back of his head, his bicep bulging prominently, and Ino almost felt guilty ogling her best friend's boyfriend. But who would blame her, the man was a walking _Adonis_.

"Is that why she always feels guilty when I give her anything? She almost cried when I got her a new bed."

"Possibly. It might also be because she's overly dramatic," laughed Ino.

He nodded. "That too."

"I heard that," said Sakura, reappearing at the kitchen door. "I leave you two together for a few minutes and you start talking _shit_ behind my back. That's what I get for surrounding myself with blonds."

"Come on Sakura," Ino rolled her eyes.

"You just swore, you owe Sarada some money," teased Naruto, grabbing the jar sitting on the counter and waving it in front of her face. The few dollars inside clunk noisily to the sides, and Sakura scoffed at him.

"Yeah, but Sarada's not here."

"I promised I'd keep an ear out for her," he grinned mischievously.

"Bastard."

"That's another dollar for your daughter."

"That's not even a swear word!"

"Oh yeah? So you wouldn't mind if Sarada said it?" he sneered at her.

She groaned at him, picking up her wallet from the counter, and took two coins that she added to the jar. "This is going to ruin me. I need the money to pay for the hearing."

"About that," started Ino, "would you mind enlightening us on the promise you made to Sasuke?"

Sakura sat back down on the chair, and Ino did the same, patiently awaiting an answer from her friend. "Well, when I came back to the house the day after I found him in bed with Karin, Sasuke was still here. He tried to explain himself about what happened, but I didn't want to hear it and threatened him by saying that I wasn't afraid of letting his little adventure get out to the public. It's pretty bad for a lawyer to be involved in such scandals, especially if he were to be an Uchiha."

"I keep hearing that, but I never understood what his last name has to do with anything," questioned Naruto.

"Naruto, the Uchiha family has a great reputation. They're extremely wealthy, and are constantly watched by the public's eye, which is something that I've always hated. Sasuke was scared that if it got out and reached his father, the old man would disown him or reject him for acting that way."

"So what? If his dad disowned him for something that didn't concern him, he obviously doesn't care very much about his son."

Sakura looked down at the table, staring at her folded arms with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I'm going to sound redundant, but once again, it's complicated."

"Everything seems to be complicated with this Sasuke," grumbled Naruto.

"It's all about the public image, that's why nobody knows about the cheating. It's bad enough that he has a child out of wedlock, but infidelity would ruin his and his family's reputation in an irreparable way."

"Man, I'm so glad I'm not the one who ended up with him," laughed Ino, although her laugh sounded very fake, almost angry.

Naruto gave her a questioning look, with his head tilted to the side, and an eyebrow raised. Ino flushed under his stare, which the blond man seemed to notice as his lips stretched into a knowing smirk. Ino coughed when Sakura looked at her and started laughing.

"I can't believe I lived the day to see Ino blush."

"It's not my fault you're dating _sex on legs_ ," complained Ino unabashedly, huffing in indignation. "Is that why you've been hiding him from me the past few months?"

It was Naruto's turn to blush at her comment, rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

"Uh, thanks I guess?"

Ino raised her arms, rolling her eyes. "Come on, don't play shy. Look at this physique," she pointed in the general direction of his upper body, "you can't tell me you're not aware of how _good_ you look."

He shrugged, cheeks still tinted with pink. "Maybe, but I'm not fond of using my physical appearance to my advantage."

"Well, I would kill for abs like those. What kind of training do you undergo to look like this?"

"You'd have to become a firefighter for that," he laughed. "Temari -my boss- is the one who makes us train. The first time I trained with her, I thought my lungs were going to collapse! This is the result of many years of suffering under her iron grip."

"As if you were any better," snorted Sakura. "I'm in pretty good shape and even I couldn't keep up with you for more than fifteen minutes. Although I think Ino would be better than me, she trains at the station."

"Barely," the blonde informed her. "All we do is shoot once a week, spar when we're bored, and file papers the rest of the time. The rest is in my own hands, and Sai is not particularly persuasive. He's an artist after all!"

"You could always stop by the fire station, Temari is always looking for guinea pigs to train," he snickered, while Ino visibly paled.

Sakura smiled at the two other occupants of the table, glad that they were able to make her forget for a moment about the storm coming her way. Their banter was a good distraction, and she was happy that they got along well. Despite Ino's rather forward comments and not-so-subtle stares, she wasn't worried about them. Naruto was a very loyal man, and Ino would never venture down that road, especially after what happened with Sasuke. The dark haired man had almost broken their friendship many years earlier, and after a thorough discussion about it, Ino and Sakura had agreed to never fight over a guy again. Real friends were rare, but guys were like fish in the sea. It's a shame that Sasuke turned out to be one of them.

She cringed at the thought of having to face the dark haired man sooner than she thought in these circumstances, and looked down at her fisted hands. She hadn't realized that her nails were digging into her palms at the thought of the father of her child. It's true that Sasuke's betrayal had initially ruined her spirits, and she had cried for weeks at the prospect of their ruined relationship. She had genuinely loved the man, but she barely thought about it nowadays with Naruto around

Looking at the said man's smiling face, she couldn't help but let the same smile stretch across her own face. He had been the best addition to her life, and despite their fast-moving relationship, she didn't regret it. Although they fought many times, she had never took it to heart like she did with Sasuke. Sasuke always knew where to hit her the hardest with his comments and criticism, and yet, he was never aware of their effect on her. With Naruto, everything was so simple. Whenever they fought, the young man would always apologize for his behaviour, even when it was her fault. ' _Sorry'_ was a word that rarely crossed Sasuke's lips, and yet, it tumbled through Naruto's with incredible easiness. The man made her feel fully loved and appreciated for what she really was, something she never thought would happen after Sasuke.

"Are you okay?" asked Naruto. She looked up, startled by his voice, and gave him a genuine smile.

"Yeah, I am."

And she really was, with her favourite people around her. She wouldn't let Sasuke break the dynamic of her new family, even if it meant hiding the truth from her daughter and everyone else. She would have to find another way to ensure that Sarada was not taken away from her.

Too bad that her daughter had been woken up by the noise in the kitchen, and was standing right next to the door, having heard the whole discussion. Her lower lip quivered, astonished that her loving father would do something as disgusting as cheat on her mother, and then try to take her away from her. Soon, tears clouded her vision, and she removed her glasses to wipe her eyes angrily, running back to her room as silently as possible to avoid being found out by the three adults.

-: :-

"Miss Haruno, please-"

"Please _what_?" she bellowed in anger, turning around to stare at her appointed lawyer. "In case you didn't know, the case is getting a full hearing, and I am at risk of losing my daughter! And it's Dr. Haruno for you!"

Before she broke up with Sasuke, the Uchiha had been their family's lawyer. Being without one previous to the hearing, she had no choice but to accept the lawyer they appointed her for the hearing. Sasuke, surprisingly, had not represented himself, but had instead taken a lawyer from his own firm.

"There were a few complications that I hadn't envisioned-"

"A few complications?" she laughed. "The judge didn't hesitate one second before agreeing to pursue the case. I thought you had amassed a solid case, Mr. Fujioma. Perhaps I heard wrong?"

The older man sighed, running a hand in his short pepper-coloured hair. The small woman – _pink_ - _haired_ _woman_ of all things- made him feel nervous. He was confident that the case was not going to get further than the first hearing, but the Uchiha's appeal turned out to be enough. "I collected all the information I could collect, but apparently, there were things you forgot to mention, _Dr. Haruno_."

The young woman flinched, tugging at her pencil skirt. Her nerves were on edge, and she was glad that Sarada didn't have to attend the first hearing and see her like this.

"I didn't think they were relevant."

The man laughed at her, and her eyebrow shot up. "You dated Mr. Uchiha for more than a decade, doctor, you should know that every little detail is important."

Sakura looked around, suddenly aware that they were still outside of the court room, and that many people had stopped to stare at the arguing individuals.

The court room's door opened once again, and Sakura found herself face to face with Sasuke, who was staring blankly at her.

"Sakura."

She sneered at him, crossing her arms under her chest, and his eyes flickered down to the revealed bit of cleavage for a split second, which she didn't fail to notice. "Sasuke."

"I need to talk to you, it's important."

"I think you've said enough back there," she retorted.

"It's different. I think you would like to hear what I have to tell you," he replied, attempting to grab her arm and drag her with him. But her lawyer got between them, grabbed Sasuke's arm, and stared defiantly at the Uchiha.

"Mr. Uchiha, I don't think any contact outside of the court room is a good idea."

"With all due respect, Mr. Fujioma" he started, looking pointedly at the hand clutching his wrist, "this is not a full blown case yet. Contact is permitted."

Sakura pushed her lawyer aside, her curiosity winning her over. "I will talk to him. Would you please join the two people who accompanied me here? I wouldn't want them to get lost."

"Miss-"

"It's _doctor_ , and you heard me."

The lawyer huffed in response, and left the place angrily. Sakura looked at Sasuke, waiting for him to start talking.

"It would be better if we went outside, the walls here have ears."

Sakura nodded, blindly following the man as he led her outside. He made his way towards the parking lot, where one of his expensive cars was parked. When they arrived in front of the black vehicle, Sasuke turned around and stared at her, while she impatiently waited for him to open his mouth.

"Listen, this case-"

"Why?" she stopped him.

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this? I thought we agreed on shared custody, and that taking it to court would be too troublesome for both of us. So I'll ask you once again, why are you trying to take my daughter away from me?"

His eyes darkened, and his lips were pulled in a tight line. "She's my daughter too, and I've wanted to talk to you because I have a proposition that you can't refuse."

She laughed at him, and his eyes narrowed at her mockery, flabbergasted that she would openly defy him like that. When they were together, she had never dared raise her voice at him or embarrass him in any way, and when she did, she had calmed herself quickly and always apologized profusely. This Naruto clearly had a bad influence on her.

"How dare you?" she scowled. "First, you sleep with Karin in our bed, the same woman you told me you would never even give a second glance to, and then you decide that I'm not a good enough mother for Sarada. I don't want to hear anything you have to say to me."

"I don't want to take her away from you, and you don't need me to tell you that you're an excellent mother. That's why I have an interesting deal for you."

"A deal?" she repeated. "So our daughter is now a bargaining chip to you?"

He suddenly grabbed her arm forcefully, and she winced at the pain, her face inches away from Sasuke's angry expression. "Sarada means the world to me, don't say things like that. I just want her to have the best childhood."

"Oh?" smirked the woman. "Is that why you mentioned my own childhood? I never thought you'd stoop so low and throw me under the bus like you did."

The Uchiha released her, straightening the tie around his neck. "Let's be honest, Sakura. You didn't have the best upbringing, and certain accidents can't really be skimmed over. You attacked people, Sakura, who says the same thing wouldn't happen with Sarada?"

"My disorder is my responsibility, and I've gone to enough therapy to know that I'm better. I haven't gotten an episode in _fifteen years_ , Sasuke!"

"You're unpredictable, Sakura, and anything can happen."

"You know as well as I do that it's in the past. You can't bring that up again when it's been years! My DID is _my_ business, and it's not going to affect Sarada or anyone else for all that matters!"

"All is fair in love and war, darling" he snickered.

"I don't want to even look at you anymore," she started turning around. "You're a bastard."

He stopped her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around again, standing too close to her for comfort. "I'm not done. I said I had a deal for you."

"Don't touch me," she growled dangerously, grabbing his hand and lifting it off her shoulder. "And I said I wasn't interested-"

"I'll let you have her all the time."

"-in-what?"

"I'll let you have Sarada, but on one condition."

She stopped and stared at him for a moment. "I'm listening, and this better be good."

"We can both have her at all times, but only if you get back with me."

Sakura stared blankly at him, trying to look for any sign of a bluff, but his face remained serious, and his body nonchalant as he stood with his back to the car. But she could see that his expression was almost pleading. It was subtle, but she could see it in his eyes, and she knew that Sasuke never begged anyone, for anything. Something sketchy was definitely up.

She narrowed her eyes at him one last time, squinting them at his expression, before she full on laughed in his face, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "You've funny Sasuke, that's a really good one coming from you. I don't think I've laughed this hard in a long time."

"I'm serious," he simply said. "I could take Sarada away from you in the blink of an eye, this is all just for formalities and for the sake of the law. You should think about it."

"What part of _'you cheated on me'_ you don't understand?" she bellowed. "Don't forget that you broke my trust in you, and don't forget that I have a boyfriend!"

"That sorry excuse of a man?" he smirked. "Come on Sakura, you're still not over me, and you can do better. Don't you want all those years we spent together back as a real family again?"

"Don't say that about Naruto," she hissed angrily, standing on her toes to gain height and stare into his eyes. "You're not a fraction of the man he is! Look at you, why are you acting this way? You've never been this cruel!"

His composure faltered for a second, but he stood up, towering over Sakura. "Maybe I've always been this way, and you just didn't see it."

Her eyes watered, and her mouth opened and closed like a fish, still in disbelief at his foreign attitude. "The Sasuke I knew would never act this way. Your little adventure with Karin was maybe an honest mistake, but this is calculated. You're acting like this on purpose, you're hiding something."

"All you have to do is say yes, and the old Sasuke will be back in a second," he said, ignoring her remark, and grabbing her waist and bringing her closer to his body.

"Sasuke, stop," she attempted to push him away. "I said no, I don't want you back! It's over, I've moved on!"

His face bent over to reach hers, and his mouth pressed against the side of her face, teasingly licking a column from ear to her neck, before going back up, and she felt like crying. "Stop lying," he whispered into her ear. "You still want me, I can feel it. Don't tell me you haven't missed this, missed _us_."

"I haven't," she shrieked, putting her hands on his chest and pushing his body away from her, but he wouldn't budge. Instead, he rotated them around and pushed her, pressing her back to the car, his face hovering over hers, and his hands on her hips. He pressed his chest to hers, and bit her neck softly. A year ago, Sakura would have been ecstatic to feel his body against hers like this, but at that exact moment, she only felt terror, knowing that Sasuke could overpower her this easily.

"Just say yes, and I'll take you back," he whispered again, his mouth pressed against her throat, and his tongue licking her teasingly. The hand that was on her hip travelled lower, until it reached the edge of her skirt. It sneaked under the fabric, travelling up her thigh, and Sakura gasped in horror, her whole body trembling as she hit him weakly on the chest with her firsts. When he grabbed a fistful of her backside, a tear fell down her cheek, and she couldn't move anymore, frozen in place, as his strong body pinned her in place.

"Sasuke, stop," she said weakly.

"I've made you weak with desire, haven't I?" he sneered, his head clouded by lust. When his hand traced the outline of her underwear, his lips left her neck, travelling up her cheek, before he backed away for a second, and stared at her lips. He felt even more turned on when she bit her trembling lower lip, but his eyes failed to see how afraid she was at that moment, taking her little action as her wanting him as much as he wanted her. His fingers skimmed the front of her panties, and a digit sneaked inside, feeling the softness of her core. Sakura gasped, and his lips descended on hers as his finger entered her. The sudden unwelcome intrusion snapped her out of her stupor, and she bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood, at the same time as a solid punch landed on the black haired man's cheek, causing him to detach from her and stumble back.

"What the hell?" bellowed a male voice. Sasuke looked up, and saw Naruto standing in front of Sakura, anger in his eyes. Sasuke's eyes travelled to the pink haired woman, and he saw her disheveled appearance, along with the tears on her face. Her whole body was shaking, and she was staring at him with a look of fear he had never wanted to see on her face. His lower lip and his cheek were stinging, and he touched his mouth tentatively, bringing his hand up to his eyes and looking at the blood he collected there.

His eyes widened in realization. He was about to take Sakura without her consent, assuming that she had still wanted him, and has ignored how terrified she had been of him at that moment. He had only wanted to convince her to take him back so he could drop the case, but it had escaladed to him sexually assaulting her.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize that Naruto had approached him until he felt a sharp tug at the front of his dress shirt. The blonde man was livid with rage, and Sasuke swore he could see a flicker of red in his pupils. The blonde man punched him once again on his untainted cheek, and Sasuke could taste the metal in his mouth.

"Naruto, stop," said Sakura, holding Naruto's arm, as it was coming down on his face once again. "Don't do it."

"Sakura," started her boyfriend. "But he…he-"

"I know, but it's not worth it," she whispered, her voice quavering.

Naruto seemed to notice it, because he released the Uchiha and turned around, grabbing her and pulling her in his arms as she cried on his chest. The three of them heard footsteps, and turned around. Mr. Fujioma, Sasuke's lawyer, and Ino were running towards them, panic in their eyes.

"What is going on in here?" asked Sasuke's lawyer. "A man came running to us to tell us that there was a fight, is that true?"

His eyes skimmed over Naruto, who was still holding a shaky Sakura in his arms, before they widened when he saw Sasuke's face. His lip was split open, and both his cheeks were injured.

"Mr. Uchiha, are you alright?" he exclaimed, running up to him, and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Did he punch you?"

"I'm fine Yamata," replied the Uchiha, still in disbelief at what he had done.

"Sakura, are you okay?" asked Ino, looking at the couple with worry.

"It's that bastard," growled Naruto, looking at Sasuke. "He assaulted her!"

"Do you have any proof?" asked Yamata.

"Look at her, isn't that enough proof for you?" said Naruto.

"So you have no proof," continued the lawyer. "We don't have anything to do here then."

He attempted to guide Sasuke away, but the Uchiha stopped him, turning around to approach Sakura.

"Sakura, I-"

" _Fuck off_ ," snapped Naruto, putting her out of his reach. "Haven't you done enough already?"

"I need to talk to her," replied Sasuke.

"She doesn't-"

"Please Sasuke, not now," said Sakura. She wasn't looking at him, and her voice cracked slightly.

Sasuke looked at her for moment. "If it's what you want," he replied, turning around.

"Mr. Uchiha," shouted Yamata. "Your car is here! And you've been assaulted, we have to report this!"

"I'll get the car later."

When Sasuke was finally out of view, Sakura unwrapped her arms from around Naruto, and took a shaky breath, still shocked at what had happened.

"What happened, Sakura?" asked Ino.

"He wanted to make a deal," she answered, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea, Miss. Haruno-" started Mr. Fujioma.

"She was just sexually assaulted, and you're trying to blame her?" Naruto fumed, glaring at the lawyer whose eyes widened in fear. "Come on Sakura, we'll talk about it later. Let's get you home."

He grabbed her hand, and led her to her car with Ino on their trail, leaving Mr. Fujioma standing in the same spot, and looking at them helplessly. Naruto opened the backseat's door for Sakura, and she sat down without resistance, giving him her keys. He sat in the front with Ino, and started the car. As he drove away, Sakura stared at the window silently, before she fell asleep a few minutes later under the two blonds' worried gazes.

-: :-

"Mr. Fujioma said that there weren't any cameras."

Naruto huffed in response. "He had planned it, that Sasuke is a sneaky asshole."

"So we can't use it against him?" asked Ino.

"No," replied Sakura. "We don't have any proof. The only people who saw what happened were Naruto and I, and it's not enough to add to the case. The judge could easily believe that we made it up, and victim blaming is very common. But I don't think he planned what happened, he really looked chocked at what he had done."

"You shouldn't defend him," started Ino.

"I'm not. I'm very upset at his actions, but I think he put his car in that spot to be able to talk in privacy, hence the absence of a camera. He didn't plan…what happened."

Sakura sighed in discontent, putting her head on the kitchen table. The case had gotten more complicated, and Mr. Fojioma was trying to gather as much as he could against Sasuke. Unfortunately, he wasn't one of the best lawyers out there, and his resources were limited, which Naruto never failed to mention.

"Your lawyer is useless," said Naruto, patting her on the head.

"He's not the greatest indeed."

"You could get a new one," proposed Ino.

Sakura raised her head, choosing to put her chin on the table to look at her best friend. "Most lawyers wouldn't agree to represent me, Mr. Fujioma was appointed to me, so he had no choice. They all know the Uchiha firm and would never go against it."

"All of them?" questioned Naruto.

She thought for a moment. "Well, most of them anyway. I recall Sasuke telling me about a few rival firms-"

"Which ones?" pressed Ino. "Maybe we could get one of their lawyers to represent you. They would probably kill to go against the son of the head of the Uchiha firm."

"He mentioned the Roku firm, but they went bankrupt if I remember, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Uchiha firm had something to do with it."

"Me neither," nodded Ino.

"There's the Yamato firm, the Nara firm-"

Naruto's head whipped around so fast that Sakura was sure he got whiplash. "Nara firm?"

"Yeah-"

"That's perfect!" he shouted, getting up from his seat. "I know exactly how to get you a new lawyer!"

Naruto reached for his phone, and fiddled with it for a few seconds before putting the phone to his ear. He waited a few seconds, but nobody answered. He huffed and fiddled with the phone a few more moments before putting it back to his ear once again.

" _Hello? What do you want brat? I'm off duty right now."_

"I know, but I need a favour from you."

There was a pause on the other line. _"What kind of favour?"_

"Nothing troublesome, trust me."

" _You sound like Shikamaru right now. Now tell me, what do you need?"_

"Talking about Shikamaru, I need you to call him for me."

" _Why don't you call him yourself?"_

"I did! He never answers me!"

" _What tells you he would answer if l call him?"_

Naruto snorted. "Of course he would answer you. I wouldn't be surprised if he were there with you right now."

Temari stuttered something intelligible, before the phone was taken from her hand and another voice interrupted her.

" _Yo Naruto. What do you want?"_

"So, you're with Temari then?" he snickered.

" _Just get it over with."_

"I heard that you guys hated the Uchiha's?"

" _We don't exactly hate them, we're just not friends with their firm."_

"Well, I have an interesting client for you then…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HoHoHo! I think that I'm coming off as a Sasuke hater in this story, while it's actually not my goal. There's more to his motives, and it'll be clearer in the future ;)  
> (I also dislike Sasuke the most in the manga. The way his character was made is just cringy. He's so petty. But that's just my personal opinion. His character is just not my type, so please don't dissect me.)  
> For those who don't know what DID is, it's dissociative identity disorder, and indeed, it has to do with inner Sakura, and the story behind it will become more clear in the future.  
> As usual, leave a review to tell me what you thought about it, or if you have any suggestions :)


	7. Chapter 7

_"Your forehead is so big, it's like a billboard!"_

_A little pink-haired girl curled in on herself, sitting in the corner of a room filled with other small children towering over her, their smiles stretched big on their faces._

" _I bet her mommy was huge when she was carrying her in her stomach!" laughed another kid._

_Sakura brought her knees to her chest, and put down her bangs to hide her forehead from their mocking stares, her head hanging low._

" _Hey, don't hide the attraction," snickered one of the older boys. "Let us look at it a bit more!"_

_The other kids laughed, teasingly pushing her around while she whimpered, hiding her head in her arms._

" _Maybe we should cut her bangs off, that way she can't hide it anymore," suggested a little girl._

_There was a consensus in which the other kids shouted their agreement, and Sakura's eyes widened, as her body started trembling. One of the little girls ran out of the room, and came back holding a pair of scissors in her hands. She approached the rose-haired girl, and crouched in front of her. She grabbed her arm to have access to her locks, but Sakura stayed obstinate, her head buried deep into her arms._

" _I can't grab her hair," said the girl._

" _We'll get it Lia," responded another boy. He grabbed one of her arms, and gestured to one of his friends to grab her other arm, spreading them apart. Sakura moaned in pain, keeping her head low in front of her, and Lia smiled mischievously._

" _Come on, show us that pretty forehead of yours," she murmured softly. Sakura turned her head to the side, hiding her bangs from Lia, which resulted in the latter getting angry._

" _Grab her," she ordered another bystander. The girl hesitated, but advanced nonetheless when she noticed Lia's icy stare, and grabbed Sakura's hair to yank her head backwards, offering Lia a good look at her face._

" _Ah, there you are," smiled Lia. She grabbed Sakura's bangs in her free hand, and brought the scissors forwards under Sakura's terrified stare._

" _H-hey, Lia, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all," stuttered out the girl holding Sakura's hair._

" _You all agreed to this," responded Lia. "I want to see her ugly forehead."_

" _But this is a little too much," whispered someone else. "You're going to cut off her hair!"_

" _I don't care!" shouted Lia. "I want to cut off her stupid pink locks! The colour is too pretty for a stupid girl like her!"_

_Lia angrily yanked Sakura's head forwards, and cut her bangs in one swift motion. The pink locks fell at Sakura's feet, under her shocked face and wide eyes. The two boys holding her released her arms, uncertainty written on their faces. The girl who grabbed her hair released her as well, and backed away, looking at the room's entrance in fear. The room went silent, and Sakura shoulders started shaking, tears falling from her eyes, sobbing softly._

" _Look at how ugly you really are," laughed Lia. "You can't hide behind your hair anymore," she said loudly for everyone to hear, looking around. "Do you guys see this? Look at her! She's hideous now that she doesn't have her hair anymore! Maybe that's why her parents left her here! They were stupid enough to have her, and they didn't want to look at her ugly face anymore," she laughed, turning around to look at Sakura. "Is that why they left you at the orphanage, forehead? They didn't want to be your parents anymore-"_

_Lia shouted as Sakura lunged forwards, tackling the cruel girl to the ground with an angry roar._

" _What the hell! Let me go!" screamed Lia, thrashing violently on the ground as the other kids watched, frozen with shock at the behaviour of the usually cowardly pink haired girl._

" _Don't talk about our parents with that filthy mouth of yours," said Sakura in a voice that none of them recognized._

_They saw the cruel smile stretching Sakura's lips, as she curled her hand into a fist and brought it forwards. It made a loud crunching noise as it collided with Lia's cheek, and her head whipped around._

" _Sakura, stop!" screamed another child, too fearful to advance and help the girl on the ground._

" _Stop?" laughed Sakura humorlessly. "Why would I stop? She deserves what's coming to her, after everything she made us go through!"_

" _Let me go, you're crazy!" screamed Lia, crying pathetically and struggling to free her arms that Sakura was holding to the ground. "And who the hell is 'us'? Have you lost your mind?"_

" _Sakura and I of course. And why would we let you go? How many times has she begged you to let her go?" asked Sakura in a soft voice. "If you want mercy, you're going to have to try harder than that."_

" _Please, help me," whined Lia, ignoring Sakura's words and looking around for help. But none of the other children moved a muscle. She whipped her head around, and stared at Sakura with a mix of fear and anger in her eyes. "Once I free myself, I'm going to make you regret what you're doing to me!"_

_Sakura laughed, and looked around, searching for something. She smiled in triumph when she found the scissors next to the pile of her pink hair, and grabbed them, bringing them closer to Lia's face. "How about we cut your hair as well, huh? A tooth for a tooth, and eye for an eye, right?"_

_Lia's eyes widened, and she started thrashing around once again. "No! Don't do it, don't cut my hair! I'll never touch you ever again, I swear! I won't even look at you!"_

_Sakura pretended to think for a few seconds, running a hand through the uneven hair in front of her face that was now barely covering a centimeter of her forehead. "Why would we believe you? Once we let you go, you're going to go back to the same old habits, pushing us around, and playing with us like dolls," she whispered, and then smiled cruelly, bringing the sharp end of the scissors closer to Lia's face. "How about we pluck your eyes out? That why we'll ensure that you're not going to look at us ever again like you promised?"_

_The scissors were now edging dangerously close to the girl's eyelashes. Sakura could hear someone whimpering in the background, and hushed whispers going through the room._

" _What! No, don't! Please Sakura!" screamed Lia, trying to push the pink haired girl off her._

" _Oh, it's Sakura now? I thought our name was forehead?" smiled Sakura._

" _Sakura," said another kid, an older boy that would usually make her trip when she walked around. "Stop this nonsense! What do you think is going to happen if you do something like this? They're going to kick you out of here, maybe even take you to prison!"_

_Sakura turned her head around to stare at the boy with the coldest stare he'd ever seen on her. "Take us away from here you said? Prison? We don't care what they do to us, as long as they take us far away from the likes of you!"_

_Sakura stared back at Lia, and brought the hand clutching the scissors upwards to give herself enough momentum to slam them down on the terrified girl underneath her. She clutched them tighter in her hand, and smile cruelly, suddenly bringing them down with force as a little girl in the room started screaming her lungs out._

" _What is going on in here?" said a voice from the door. The kids looked at the newcomer, realizing that it was the orphanage's owner, Chiyo, who must have been alerted by the commotion. Chiyo's eyes went to the two girls on the ground, and her eyes widened when she realized what she was looking at._

_Sakura was still clutching the scissors in her hand, a few centimeters above Lia's head, and the latter was sobbing on the ground, her eyes tightly closed, and her chest wracked by tremors._

" _Sakura?" she whispered, shocked at the usually inoffensive girl's attitude. "What are you trying to do? Drop the scissors at this instant, and let Lia go!"_

_Sakura started blankly at the elderly woman, before her eyes went to the hand holding her weapon. Her vision blurred for a second, and she stared at the scissors dumbfounded, before a small scream left her lips. She released them from her grasp, and they clattered noisily to the ground._

" _Oh God," she whispered out, staring at her trembling hand. She looked down at Lia, and noticed her teary eyes and terrified expression, and hurriedly got off her. She looked around at the puzzled kids, and their frightened gazes. Finally, her eyes met Chiyo's, and she saw the disappointment in her eyes._

" _Sakura, what happened?" she whispered out, walking towards the girl. Sakura's eyes filled with tears, and before anyone could stop her, ran past Chiyo out of the big house. She passed in front of the grocery store where she would walk with Chiyo to buy their food, and in front of the park where she would go and sit on the swings to comfort herself, and remember her parents when the other kids would be too cruel to her. She didn't stop running until her tired legs brought her in the middle of nowhere, where she fell to the ground and started crying._

" _I'm so sorry," she whimpered out, collapsing to the ground from fatigue._

_The next time she woke up, she was lying on her bed back at the orphanage, and the very next day, Chiyo regretfully said goodbye to her as she was taken to the hospital, where the mental ward would become her home for the next two years._

Sakura came out of here reverie when a hand shook her shoulder. She looked up and was met by the blue eyes of her boyfriend, staring down at her with worry.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked. "You kind of spaced out there for a minute."

"I'm fine," she replied, rubbing her tired eyes. "I was just thinking."

He sat down next to her, making himself comfortable on the sofa. "Are you worried about the hearing?"

Sakura had completely forgotten about it, but she nonetheless smiled at Naruto. "A little bit yeah. I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm worried about Sarada. She has to accompany us to this one this time."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and brought her to his chest. "Shikamaru is the best. That guy is a flipping genius, and he has a rate of success that is higher than Sasuke."

"I know that, I completely trust your judgement. If you say that Shikamaru is the best, I fully believe you," she smiled up at him, and he returned it with undisguised tenderness in his gaze. "Is Sarada still in her room?"

"Yeah, she hasn't come out of it," he replied.

"I think she's upset about the case. She didn't take it well when I told her that Sasuke planned on taking her," sighed Sakura. "I don't want her to hate him. I know he loves her unconditionally, and I fear that this case is going to put a strain on their relationship."

"It'll be fine," assured her Naruto, rubbing her arm. "He'll come out of it eventually and realize how stupid and selfish he's acting."

There was a comfortable silence in the room, as both watched the mute TV where a random movie was playing. Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, peering at Sakura, before he spoke. "I want to ask you something, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to," he asked with uncertainty in his voice.

"Ask away, you don't know if I will, until you voice if out."

"When we were sitting in the court room a few weeks ago, Sasuke's lawyer mentioned that you attacked people, but didn't elaborate on it. What was that about?"

Sakura thought for a moment, before she answered. "He didn't elaborate because it was only the first hearing. Lawyers usually leave their best arguments for later when the case becomes a full blown one."

Naruto nodded in understanding, and she continued talking, hesitation in her voice. "When-when I was younger, I used to live in this orphanage. My parents had died when I was around the age of seven, and I was taken there by the social worker I had at the time."

"Is that why you've never talked about your parents?"

"Yeah. I just told you that they weren't around because it's a sensitive topic for me," she answered. "There was this elderly lady who worked there. Her name was Chiyo, and she was the nicest woman I had ever met. I instantly liked her, and she took good care of me. But things weren't as good when she wasn't around," she said somberly. "The other kids used to tease me a lot about my forehead before my parents died, and the same thing happened when I went to the orphanage. They used to bully me and push me around a lot. I was a very silent girl, and I was too shy to do anything about it."

"I somewhat have some trouble believing that you were ever shy or silent," teased Naruto, and she hit him in the arm, a laughter escaping her lips.

"Hey, this is a serious moment right here," she said.

Sakura stopped talking for a moment, trying to recollect her thoughts and think about what she was going to say after. Naruto stayed silent, patiently listening the whole time.

"I had always suspected that there was something wrong with me, and my parents did too. They used to argue about me a lot, about how I was too shy and antisocial, and didn't have many friends. There was always this little voice in my head that used to tell me to do bad things every time one of these kids would say something bad to me. It used to urge me to let it shine through, and it scared me a lot that I would think that way."

Sakura's voice got louder, and Naruto noticed the distress coating her words. "The teasing only got worse, especially coming from one of the girls at the orphanage. Her name was Lia, and she was the driving force of all the other kids. She convinced them to bully me, and that I was a bad person. I never knew why she hated me, but I later realized that she was just jealous of the attention I got from Chiyo. It all went down when once day she cut off my bangs because she wanted to see my big forehead."

Sakura took a deep breath. "I-I was devastated. My mother used to compliment me on my hair all the time, and I cherished it. So when she-Lia cut it off, and then insulted my parents, something snapped within me, and the voice took over."

Naruto noticed that Sakura was starting to shake, and her eyes were filled with unshed tears. His hands automatically started drawing circles on her skin as a comforting gesture, urging her to continue by showing her that he was listening and that he was supporting her.

"I attacked her, and I hit her harder than I had ever hit anything in my entire life. I was so mad, so blinded by the injustice. It was like I was looking at her without realizing what I was doing. I almost stabbed her in the eye with the same scissors she had cut my hair with, but Chiyo interrupted me and it shook me out of my trance. I was horrified when I came to my senses, and I ran away from the orphanage until I collapsed."

Naruto released her, turning her around until he was staring into her face. There were tears streaming down her cheeks, and he took them in both hands to wipe away the moisture with his thumbs. He took her in his arms, burying her face in his chest, and she couldn't help but sob in his arms, shaking violently.

"It's okay," he whispered. "You don't have to tell me more if it hurts you to talk about it."

"Thank you for listening," she mumbled in his shirt.

He held her in his arms until she stopped crying. She fell asleep on his chest, and he carried her to her room. He put her on her bed, covering her with her white sheets, and kissed her forehead.

He stared at her peaceful face for a moment, before turning around and leaving the room.

-: :-

" _Shit, shit, shit, shit_ ," swore Sakura loudly, rummaging through her purse.

"That's a lot of money you owe me now, mom," scolded Sarada. "I'm going to become rich!"

"Sure honey," absentmindedly answered Sakura. She had forgotten her phone, and they were already in front of the courthouse.

"Are you looking for this?" asked her daughter.

Sakura looked up, and her phone was dangling from Sarada's hand in front of her eyes. She quickly grabbed it, and shoved it inside her purse.

"Why do you have this? I've been looking for it."

"I found it on the table before we left," shrugged Sarada, opening the car's door. "I knew you would forget it, so I grabbed it for you."

"What would I do without you, my darling daughter?" mused Sakura, exiting the car.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, apprehensiveness written all over her face. She hadn't contacted Sasuke since that faithful day when he had assaulted her, and being there was the last thing she wanted. She suddenly felt a hand slip in hers, and looked down at her daughter, who smiled up at her.

"It's going to be okay, mom. Let's go now, we wouldn't want to be late. You're always uptight about punctuality. It would be bad for your reputation."

Sakura smiled back at Sarada, knowing that her daughter's words were a way to comfort her. "You're right. Everything's going to be fine."

The two made their way inside, climbing the stairs and entering the big hall littered with benches. Sakura quickly noticed a head topped with hair the shape of a pineapple, and made her way towards the man standing in front of a blonde woman. She noticed Sakura, and quickly left him to greet her.

"Sakura, you're finally here," smiled the woman.

"Temari," acknowledged her Sakura. "It's good to see you again. Are you accompanying Mr. Nara?"

Temari huffed in annoyance. "I'm the one who dragged him out of his house. If I weren't there, he probably would have slept in."

"For my defense, I was up all night working on the case," he defended himself, glaring at Temari.

"It's no excuse. I know you're competent, but that's not a reason to compromise the case," she argued back.

"Am I hearing things or did you just compliment me?" he teased her.

Temari's cheeks reddened imperceptibly, and she looked away from him. "Don't count on it too much, idiot man."

"You're such a troublesome woman," sighed Shikamaru, before he directed his attention to his client. "You're here early. That's good, we'll able to go through some things."

Sakura nodded. "Am I going to have to speak?"

"Not today. We're just going to defend some of the points made against you in the first hearing as I mentioned last time. The only reason why you would have to speak is if Uchiha's lawyer calls you to the stand. You know what to do, right?"

"Not lie, but not divulge the whole truth," she repeated what he had told her.

"Excellent. I believe everything is going to be fine then," he replied. He looked down at Sarada, and smiled at the shy girl who was clutching her mother's hand and looking at the intimidating couple. When she noticed that they were staring at her, she gulped and spoke hesitantly.

"H-hello Mr. Nara, Mrs. Nara."

The couple's eyes widened, and they both turned red.

"We're not married," sputtered out Temari. "We're not even dating! And call me Temari, dear."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, watching as Sarada apologized profusely.

"It's fine, kid," he reassured her. He turned to Sakura in wonder. "Is she okay with coming here?"

"She doesn't have a choice, does she?" answered Sakura.

"I just hope that she doesn't get called to the stand. She's too young to know how to step around a lawyer's questions."

"I can do it," said Sarada stubbornly, annoyed at the fact that they were talking about her as if she were not present. "I can talk if they call me."

"I know you can, honey," said Sakura. "But this is different than a school presentation. Lawyers won't go easy on you, whether you're a child or not."

Before Sarada could reply, they noticed Sasuke walking inside the courthouse, followed by someone Sakura didn't think she would have to see for a very long time. Fugaku Uchiha was walking behind his son, carrying himself with pride and assurance. As they passed by them, Sasuke briefly looked at Sakura, and turned his head away, guiltily avoiding her eyes. Fugaku, however, looked her straight in the eye, before his eyes skimmed over his granddaughter who looked at him with excitement. She was about to greet him, when he simply kept walking, turning his back to her, and leaving her dejected.

"What's wrong with grandpa?" she muttered to her mother.

"I don't know honey, maybe he didn't notice you?" replied Sakura. She knew that he had noticed his granddaughter, but cared too much about appearances to appear soft in public.

Her daughter didn't seem convinced, and simply nodded. "Okay."

"Alright," Shikamaru cut them off. "It's going to start soon, we should head inside."

Shikamaru followed the Uchiha senior, and Sakura regretfully did the same. She half-wished that Naruto were there with her to give her the necessary confidence she needed to face Sasuke once again, but he had been called to work for an emergency.

"Let's go mom, we have to win this," said Sakura, smiling at her, and Sakura felt slightly more confident.

-: :-

"So how did it go?" asked Naruto.

"Better than last time. No secrets were divulged, it was just a plain old hearing. Sasuke's lawyer didn't even mention the beating you gave him," smiled Sakura. "All we have to wait for is to see if the judge will accept the case."

"Sorry about that," muttered Naruto guiltily.

"There was one curious thing that happened though," she muttered thoughtfully. "Sasuke's father was there, but he didn't speak to us at all. It was like we didn't exist at that moment, and it made Sarada really sad. I'm not surprised about his coldness, but I thought that he would at least greet her."

"That's strange indeed. I thought he got along well with Sarada?"

"He does. He spoils her all the time, and she adores him," she responded with a small smile.

"I'm sure he'll get over it. Those Uchiha have way too much pride," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "How did Shikamaru do, by the way? I would have liked to be there to see him in action."

"He was great, like you said he would be," she told her boyfriend. "It was really funny, like a competition between the two firms. They really don't like each other."

They were both sitting in the middle of the dining room, snuggling up to each other on the sofa. Naruto had come to see her after his shift, carrying take-out in his hands.

"And Sarada?"

"She was a good girl, as usual. She stayed calm through the whole thing, I wasn't expecting any less from her. I'm just glad they didn't call her to the stand."

"She a smart kid, she would have been fine anyway," remarked Naruto thoughtfully. "Sometimes she acts like a five-year old, but sometimes she acts ten years older than her age. It's really impressive, she has a great understanding capacity."

"Yeah, well her mother is a doctor, and her father is a lawyer," laughed Sakura.

Naruto poked her side, and she stopped laughing, yelping at the attack. "Did you drop her off at Ino's?"

"No, it's Sasuke's turn to have her today," responded Sakura. Naruto looked at her in astonishment.

"What? I thought you wouldn't let him have her after the first hearing's fiasco!" he exclaimed.

"I can't do that, we agreed to share her. He's her father after all, and she still loves him and needs him in her life," replied Sakura. "He might have gone back on his word, but it's not my type to stab him in the back like he did to me. Plus, if I don't let him have her, it'll only give him more evidence to go against me."

Naruto thought for a moment, relaxing underneath her. "I guess you're right. That's very logical."

Sakura wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Mr. Nara explained it to me."

Naruto laughed. "It's weird to hear someone call him like that. To me, he's just plain, old, lazy Shikamaru."

"How long have you guys known each other?"

"Since primary school. Shikamaru and I were classmates, and Temari was two grades above," he replied. "I've been witness to their little dance around each other forever."

Sakura laughed. "Sarada thought that they were married. I've never seen someone turn red as fast as those two, it was quite entertaining."

"The denial is real," muttered Naruto with a chuckle.

Sakura yawned, untangling herself from within Naruto's arms, and stood up to stretch her body. She then started picking up the empty take-out boxes on the table, shaking her head at the amount of ramen Naruto had consumed. Surely it wasn't healthy to eat five boxes in one sitting? She honestly wondered how he could maintain such a good body with the diet he had.

She carried the boxes to the kitchen, dropping them in the trash, and grabbed herself a cup of water. The day had been tiring and mentally straining, even though the hearing had gone well, and Sakura couldn't wait to be at peace again.

She made her way back to the living room, and stood at the foot of the sofa, watching a sprawled Naruto flip through the channels. He looked at her with questioning eyes.

"What are you doing? Come lie down with me, we can watch some movie or something," he said.

She smiled cockily at him, crawling on top of his body. "I was thinking of a more hands on activity."

His curious eyes quickly turned playful, and he grabbed her hips, pushing her further into him. "I like the way you think."

"Sarada's not here, and I think we could allow ourselves to be as loud as we like tonight," she chuckled, kissing his neck playfully.

He sat up on the sofa, placing her on his lap with her legs wrapped around his waist, and kissed her soft lips. His mouth trailed down her throat, and she hummed in content. "It's been quite some time since we did this," he muttered against her skin.

"It's been quite hectic," she laughed.

His mouth went back up, and he stared into her eyes. "Well since it went so well today, how about I fuck you until you can't walk?"

His words sent a jolt straight to her lower stomach, and she could feel the desire pool there. "I love it when you talk like that."

Naruto went back to kissing her, immediately grabbing the hem of her t-shirt to remove it. His large hands cupped her sides, caressing the smooth skin there, and Sakura sighed at the familiar caress. "No foreplay this time, I've been waiting too long. Just take my pants off," she whispered.

"You're a very impatient and demanding woman," he laughed.

"Come on," she whined, removing his hands from her sides and putting them on the zipper of her jeans. "I want you, right now."

"As my lady wishes," he said, immediately unbuttoning them. He opened the zipper, shoving his hands inside her pants to cup her bottom, and she glared at him. He squeezed her cheeks, humoured by her impatience, and she growled at him.

"Did you just… _growl_ at me?" he asked. "I've never heard you make that sound before."

She blushed, immediately hiding her face in his chest. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just got excited. Besides, you're too slow for my liking."

"It's okay, I liked it. It made you sound like a possessive animal," he chuckled, and she felt the reverberations in his chest. "I won't make you wait any longer if that's what you want."

He tugged at her pants, dragging them over her ass and down her legs, and she stood up so he could remove them. When they were completely off, she sprung forwards, grabbing his shirt to yank it over his head. When her hands reached his belt, she froze midway when she heard her phone ring, but she chose to ignore it by unbuckling his belt.

"Hey, you should take that. It could be important," he told her, watching her as she worked on his pants.

"No, ignore it. Nothing's more important right now than me getting into those pants of yours," she said.

Her phone kept ringing insistently, and he grabbed her hands to remove them from his pants. "Sakura," he insisted.

She rolled her eyes, and huffed in annoyance, reaching for her phone that she had left on the table. "Fine. Since when are you the serious one?"

"I've always been serious," he pouted, crossing his arms over his naked chest.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, and answered the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

" _Dr. Haruno?"_

"Ah," she exclaimed, looking at Naruto with surprise. "Mr. Nara, I wasn't expecting you so soon."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her surprised expression with equal astonishment.

" _Me neither, this is as unexpected for me as it is for you."_

"What's the matter?"

" _I have some pretty bad news. Turns out the judge accepted the case, and now we're in serious fight for Sarada's custody."_

Sakura gasped in shock. "What? Already? I thought it would take at least a few days until we get the answer! How is that even possible? We had a solid case, there's no reason that this should happen!"

" _Believe me, Dr. Haruno. I feel the same as well. I know the law as well as the back of my hand, and the procedure for this case is anything but natural. Something smells fishy about all of this, and I count on finding out what the issue is."_

There was a pause where Sakura rubbed her tired eyes. "Mr. Nara, I hired you because Naruto assured me that you were the best at what you're doing, and I fully believe him. So I will trust you with handling the case and helping me keep my daughter, no matter how much money it costs me."

" _I will win this case, I assure you. I won't let you or Naruto down."_

Sakura smiled softly into the phone, bidding goodbye to her lawyer and putting the device on the table. She turned to Naruto, and smiled softly at him. "It turns out that things won't be as easy as I thought."

"You look strangely relaxed about all of this," he told her with worry in his voice, dragging her to him by the hips.

"I guess it just hasn't sunk in yet, I'm just too tired of all of this," she sighed, hugging his shoulders. "Believe me when I say that I'll turn into a wreck in no time."

Naruto gently lifted her up in his arms, and got up from the sofa. "Come on, let's take you to bed. I bet that conversation drained you."

She wrapped her legs around him, and put her head on his shoulder as he moved through the house. "You're right. Thanks Naruto."


	8. Chapter 8

 

"Three-hundred thousand dollars in debt?" exclaimed Sakura, looking at the paper that had been placed on the table in front of her.

"Yes," nodded Shikamaru. "He managed to pay half of it in the last two weeks alone, all in _cash_."

"Do you think that he might have saved the money over time?" she asked, picking up the sheet.

"No," replied the young man. "He'd been crippled with debt for years, and he still struggles to pay child support for his three children. He often can't even provide for them, so I doubt that he would be able to save one dime."

"That's rough, poor man," said Sakura with a grimace.

Shikamaru smiled, taking the paper from her hand and putting it back inside the folder he held. "That's the kind of stuff that comes with alcoholism. The man's been left by his wife, and his kids refuse to speak to him, so he turned to his bottles."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would they let him be the judge for the case if he's an alcoholic struggling to live a decent life?"

"It's still his job, even if he's not as competent as he used to be. Plus, I'm pretty sure the Uchiha have also payed the court to be represented by someone they can easily manipulate. No one's easier for that than a broken man."

Sakura folded her arms in front of her, and bit her lower lip in worry. "Then what do we do now?"

" _You_ don't do anything, it's my job to figure this matter out," he replied. "I'll take care of this and figure out how to stop the Uchiha from bribing the court any further."

Sakura sighed in discontent, but gave Shikamaru an appreciative look for his job. She had been a bit hesitant when Naruto had tried to convince her to hire him, but she was glad that she had given in because the man was obviously good at his job, and he had many resources she never thought anyone would have.

"How did you even get all of this?" she asked. "Did you ask the judge?"

He smiled confidently, running a hand through his hair. "And have him run away with his tail between his legs? No, I didn't ask him. It would have just made him paranoid and more careful, and made the Uchiha family sneakier. Let's just say that they're not the only ones who have dirt on people."

Sakura looked at him with uncertainty. Shikamaru obviously knew what he was doing, and she wouldn't doubt the judgement of a professional, but she wasn't sure that bribing people would be the best and most honest option.

"Isn't that…illegal?"

"Of course it is," he replied. "But that's what being a lawyer is about. We lie, we manipulate, and we bend the law to our advantage."

"I thought it was about justice."

Shikamaru folded his arms over the table, and leaned forwards to give her an unimpressed and bored look that made her feel almost silly.

"Justice? That's just a cover up, Dr. Haruno, and you're being way too gullible. If you knew how –excuse my French- _fucked up_ the law truly is, your perception of what a courtroom is would completely change. Look at the father of your child for example. He has an extremely high success rate, and it's not by being honest that he was able to obtain it. His whole family knows a lot of people, and it's easy for him to have the information he needs when he can dig up the worst stuff about those around him. Plus, with all the money the Uchiha family has, they have no problems getting what they want."

"But you have a higher success rate than he does," she exclaimed with surprise. "With all due respect, you're not as rich as their family, so how were you able to win so many cases?"

Shikamaru pressed his fingers to his temple, and tapped it a few times. "This right here is what I use. You are right when you say that I don't have as much money as the Uchiha, so I had no choice but to use my brain to get where I am today."

"I see," nodded Sakura sheepishly. Naruto had indeed mentioned that the young Nara was a genius. "This is all very different from my job. All I do is save lives and cure people."

"It's the same for me as well," he mused, a small smile playing at his lips. "I save lives too, only through a less hands-on approach, and by twisting some realities to my clients' advantage."

She gave one last smile, and he picked up the files he had set on the table to put them inside his bag.

"So, same time next Monday?"

"Yes," he replied. "I'm going to visit again and bring my new findings."

"Perfect," she said, getting up from her seat to shake his hand. She walked his through the front door, where they exchanged a few last words.

When he finally exited the apartment, she leaned against the closed door, and sighed to herself, feeling a headache coming. She had been on edge since the case had started, and she hadn't been sleeping well for a few weeks, her brain constantly running and anticipating the worst out of her current situation.

It wasn't without mentioning Sarada, who had been obliged to attend the trial with her. The young girl had been surprisingly silent about the whole deal, and had barely spoken to her, preferring to go to her room and lay on her bed, reading books or watching TV. Sakura knew that the case was affecting her daughter more than she showed, and she probably felt betrayed, being tossed around by her parents and by the lawyers.

Needless to say, Sakura wasn't the only one eager to move on from the cacophony that her life had become. She barely had time to enjoy anything or to rest between her shifts at the hospital, Sarada, and the case. She hadn't even properly hung out with her boyfriend in a while, save for having him accompany her to the trial.

Sakura was snapped out of her stupor when she remembered that she had to leave for work very soon. She left the door to collect her things, picking up her phone and a bottle of water on the way, and left the house, locking the door behind her.

-: :-

"This is taking longer than I expected, Sasuke. When are you going to have Sarada?"

Sasuke stood in front of his father, a serious look on his face. He looked calm from the outside, but being in the presence of his grumpy father while the older man was in such a mood was the last thing he wanted at that moment.

"It's going to take some time, father," he replied coolly.

"I didn't pay that useless judge so much money for you to play around with that pink-haired woman," said his father, looking up from his computer to give his son a stern look. "You mentioned that it would be done in the blink of an eye, so why is the trial still going?"

Sasuke almost let out a frustrated sigh, but collected himself at the last second, knowing that it wouldn't end well for him to show some attitude to his parent. "I'm sorry, father, but I didn't expect her to hire a new lawyer. Nara is a very good one, he's even considered better than us-"

"Hah," huffed his father hauntingly. "You let yourself be surpassed a mediocre man who doesn't even have the money we possess. I gave you everything and provided for you to be at the top, but once again, you disappoint me."

Sasuke hung his head low, his heart giving a painful twist. "I apologize-"

Fugaku's hand struck the desk with a dull thud, and Sasuke quickly straightened his posture, looking at his father with a look of surprise and fear.

"All you do is apologize and promise to do better, but I still haven't seen any improvement. You weren't even able to keep your kid around!" he exclaimed angrily. "I asked you to marry that woman, and you weren't even able to wife her. When are you going to do something right?"

Sasuke simply stood there, taking in everything that his father was throwing at him. It wasn't new or unusual, he had had plenty of things thrown at him by the man, from the fact that he got Sakura pregnant at the age of eighteen, to the fact that she had left him with his daughter. He couldn't even imagine how the senior Uchiha would react if he had told him that he had ruined his relationship because he had cheated on Sakura.

"Two weeks," finally spoke Fugaku after a tense silence. "I'll give you two weeks to take Sarada away from that woman."

"Understood," nodded a stiff Sasuke. When his father's attention turned to his computer, he quickly left the office, taking a deep breath after he closed the door behind him.

Sasuke almost punched the wall in frustration. His father was never satisfied with anything he ever did. He was doing his best to have Sarada, despite not wanting to put her or her mother through so much suffering, only to please his father. But the man wouldn't even acknowledge his efforts as long as no concrete results were in.

He scowled in discontent, and walked away from the office, scorning himself for his mistakes, knowing fully that he deserved this. If he hadn't been immature and bedded Karin, none of this would have happened.

-: :-

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"Why did dad cheat on you?"

Sakura almost choked on her food, quickly grabbing the glass of water sitting in front of her and taking a huge gulp, and set it back on the table to take a deep breath.

"Honey, what are you talking about? Where have you heard that?"

Sarada stared blankly at the plate of spaghetti sitting in front of her, mindlessly toying with the food, and cutting the strands in tiny pieces. Sakura had noticed that the young girl, usually earnest when it came to food, hadn't taken a single bite yet, and preferred to be deep in her thoughts, her gaze faraway.

Sarada sighed in frustration, and dropped the fork into the plate, before giving her mother an angry look.

"I heard you talking with aunt Ino and Naruto a few weeks ago."

"Dammit," muttered Sakura. "I thought we were being discreet, you weren't supposed to know that."

"Why?" exclaimed Sarada, frustration written in her voice. "You should have told me! He's my dad, and I should know why you guys aren't together anymore!"

"Sarada," Sakura said, frowning at the young girl. "What happens between your father and I doesn't concern you. It's a matter between us, and only us."

"Of course it concerns me!" she cried out. "You let me stay with him, even after he went with another woman, and now he's trying to take me away! Why is he acting this way? I hate him now, and I never want to see him anymore! I never want to go back to his house!"

Sarada was now crying, tears streaming down her face, and Sakura hurriedly got up from her chair to reach Sarada and hold her in her arms. She knew that Sarada had been upset over the whole deal, but she never realized how much it affected the young Uchiha.

"Sarada, don't say that. You dad is not a bad man-"

"Y-yes he is," sobbed the dark haired girl, clutching her mother. "He wants to take me away from you, from aunt Ino, and f-from Naruto. I don't want to go with him forever, and never see you guys a-again!"

"It won't happen," reassured her Sakura, running a hand through her black hair soothingly. "I won't let him do that, I love you too much to have you taken away from me."

"Then why don't you tell them that dad cheated on you?" asked her daughter in croaky voice.

"It's complicated, you'll understand when you grow up."

Sarada nodded, her body still slightly shaky in her mother's arms. Sakura felt her heart twist painfully. She had never wanted to put Sarada through the whole ordeal, and had wished for the case to end after the hearing. Faith had decided otherwise, and there she was, crouching in front of her miserable and crying daughter.

"You shouldn't hate your father," muttered Sakura. "He's doing this because he thinks it's what best for you, even if he's wrong."

Sarada sniffed, looking up at her mother. "I'm sorry mom. I thought that you guys separated because of you, but now I know that it was all because of dad. I blamed you for so long."

"It's not just because of him," argued Sakura. "Don't blame him for everything. I neglected him as well, you know."

"Why are you protecting daddy?" asked Sarada, suddenly getting upset. "I'm not stupid, mom. I know that it's his doing. There's no excuse for what he did."

 _She's way too smart_ , observed Sakura.

"I don't want you to despise your dad. You only have one in your life, and it would be bad to have a poor relationship with him."

"He's the one causing this," mumbled her daughter. "It would be his fault if our relationship becomes bad. I'll never forgive him if he takes me away."

"He won't," repeated Sakura, assurance in her voice. "I don't want there to be tension between the both of you. I didn't have my dad with me when I grew up, and I want you to cherish your time with him."

Sarada's gaze softened, and she shifted in her mother's arms.

"You're right," she said in a low voice. "I didn't realize, mom. But it still doesn't mean that I forgive him for what he's doing."

"It's okay," smiled the pink haired woman, letting go of her daughter. "We can't forgive everyone for everything, and I realize that your father has hurt both of us a lot."

"It's okay mom, and like you said," smiled the young girl, hugging her mother again, "he won't take me away."

Sarada released her mother, and hurriedly retreated back to her room under Sakura's tender gaze. Her daughter truly meant the world to her, and she would be damned if she allowed Sasuke to take her away from her without a fight. She only hoped that Shikamaru would put an end to all of this, before things take a turn for the worst.

-: :-

Sakura was jolted awake when she felt something wet hit her face, and she jumped in surprise, a scream leaving her lips. She could feel something dripping down her face and unto her shirt, and she brought a hand to her face to touch the substance. She realized it was water, and turned around to look at the culprit, her gaze falling on Naruto who stood there with a wide smile on his face, hiding something behind his back.

"What the hell?" she shouted. "Did you just throw water at my face? Couldn't you wake me up like a normal person?"

He shrugged, his smile never leaving his face. "You're a heavy sleeper. Plus, where's the fun in that?"

Sakura gave him a suspicious glare, her eyes trailing over his form. He was wearing his gym wear, a sign that he had just left the station, and was smiling innocently at her, a hint of well-hidden mischief in his eyes.

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you would go home. I've had a long shift at the hospital, and I'm really tired right now for whatever little game you're playing," she groaned crankily, flopping back into the mattress to continue sleeping.

"Is it bad that I wanted to see my beautiful girlfriend?" he said in a sing-song voice. "Besides, you've overslept. You're usually awake at this time."

"Yeah well, I've been sleeping pretty badly lately, and I really needed this," she replied, her voice muffled by the pillow she had stuffed her face into.

She was determined to ignore the overgrown child standing next to her bed, when she felt a jet of water hit the back of her head, soaking her hair, and wetting the mattress. She quickly jumped up in frustration getting out of bed and turning around to glare at the blonde man. He was standing at the same place with a proud grin, holding in his hand what seemed to be a water gun.

"A water gun? Really?" she huffed, but a small smile stretched her lips.

"Come on, get out of bed, I've brought something for you," he said, pointing the gun at her, grinning from ear to ear.

She let out a squeal, and hunched over to hide behind the bed. Naruto jumped on top of the mattress, hovering over her, and she screamed, getting up and tackling him, knowing that it was the only way to fight back. He fell back on the mattress with Sakura on top of him, and she grabbed the hand with the gun to hold it against the bed.

"It's over now," she laughed. "I caught you, and you can't shoot me anymore!"

"You think so?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Before she could reply, he had grabbed the back of her head with his free hand, bringing her face closer to his, and sealed his lips over hers. She eagerly kissed him back, untightening her grip on his arm and putting her hands on his chest. Naruto quickly turned them over, pinning her underneath him, before forcefully biting her lower lip and getting up from on top pf her. She groaned in discontent, looking at the man standing at the foot of her bed, and her eyes widened when he pointed the gun at her once again, shooting a stream of water at her face.

"Naruto!" she screamed, covering her face with her arms. "I'm going to kill you when I catch you!"

"Come on you lazy ass," he laughed, stopping the jet of water and exiting the room. "I left a gun for you on your desk. Try to catch me!"

Sakura grinned, and ran to her desk to grab the green gun he had put there. She wasn't one to engage in such childish activities, but the promise of a challenge from his part had awoken her competitiveness. No one got through med school without being at least a little bit competitive after all.

A big smile on her face, Sakura sneaked out of the room, armed with her newly acquired weapon, and looking for her boyfriend. She walked through the apartment, looking inside every room, and tiptoeing around the house.

 _He's sneaky,_ she though, bending over to look under the kitchen table.

Before she could stand up, she felt a cold jet of water hit her ass, and she jumped at the cold feeling, turning around to shoot the man. Her jet caught his chest, soaking the white shirt and making it cling to his form, and Sakura almost got distracted by the delicious outline of his muscles.

He aimed at her, but she quickly avoided it by running towards the dining room, shooting water at him along the way, laughter leaving her lips. Naruto followed, running after the pink haired woman with his own gun leaving trails pf water all over the place. She soon found herself cornered, standing behind the low table, and he grinned mischievously at her, aiming his gun and drenching her from head to toe. When the jet stopped, she opened her eyes that she had closed while she was getting soaked by the man, and she grinned when she noticed his alarmed look. His gun has run out of water, and she grinned evilly when she realized that hers was still full.

She retaliated, dousing the man in water while he ran towards her room. Both of them were laughing like children, and Sakura felt happier than she had in a long time. There was a feeling of exhilaration that she hadn't experienced since forever, and Naruto had easily brought it back with this little game.

When her own gun was empty, she threw it on the ground, and quickly sprinted towards the man, before jumping on his back, laughter leaving her lips as he yelped, almost falling to the ground from the force of the propulsion of her body against his. He regained his composure, a small smile on his lips, and Sakura wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Their dripping clothes were clinging to each other's, and Naruto could feel her chest rise and fall quickly from their running.

"Caught you," she whispered playfully in his ear. "I wonder what I'm going to do with you now."

"Please don't hurt me, oh mighty Sakura," he laughed, running in circles. The action caused the pink haired woman to cling to him in fear of falling.

"You're making me dizzy," she laughed.

"Do I?" he said cheekily, dropping her to the ground.

The young woman landed on her feet, the remnants of a laughter on her lips, and stood on shaky legs, still dizzy from Naruto's movements. She looked down at her clothes and frowned at how soaked she was.

"That was fun, but now I need to change clothes. We probably made a mess in the living room and in the kitchen," she told him.

He rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall. "It's just water, it'll dry off. Besides, you looked like you needed this. You've been so stressed out that I haven't seen a genuine smile on your face for weeks."

Her gaze softened, and she looked at her feet, a small smile playing on her lips at his attentiveness and his display of tenderness. Naruto was truly a selfless man, and he took care of her like no one had ever done.

"Thank you, you're the best," she said.

She walked towards him and gave him a light kiss on the lips, before retreating back to change her clothes and to mop the water, but she was stopped by a hand firmly grabbing her around the wrist and pinning her against the wall. Naruto's face came into view, and his frame towered over her. Sakura cursed him for being so tall, because she had to raise her head a lot to look at him.

"That can wait, I'll do it later," he said. "I'm the one who initiated this after all."

"Maybe, but I still have to take off my wet clothes."

"I can do that for you as well," he said cockily, looking down at her T-shirt. It was sticking to her body, and he could see the outline of her breasts and her perky nipples through it. He licked his lips, overcome with the urge to bend down and take one between his teeth.

 _Curse women for sleeping without bras_.

Sakura seemed to notice the little gesture, because she raised an eyebrow, bringing her hands to his torso to caress the muscles outlined by his shirt. "Then what are you waiting for?"

When she gave him the green-light, he wasted no time in grabbing the hem of her shirt with his two hands, and tugging at it with energy, ripping the fabric in half. Sakura gasped, opening her mouth reprimand him, but was silenced when his mouth circled her nipple, giving it an experimental lick.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" she whimpered out, tugging at his blonde locks. "I liked that shirt."

His mouth left her chest, and he looked up at her. " _Bullshit_. You have a ton of shirts like that one. You won't miss it. Besides, it gives me an excuse to see you wearing mine."

The possessiveness in his voice sent a jolt straight down her lower belly, and she shivered in pleasure. Naruto went back to his work, latching his mouth to a pink nipple, and greedily sucking at it. His other hand pushed the remnants of the ripped shirt away from her other breast, and he grabbed the mound, twisting its peak between his _oh so_ talented fingers.

"Let's go to bed," she muttered.

She felt him grin against the sensitive skin of her breast, before he grabbed her bottom, hoisting her up against the wall to allow her to wrap her legs around his waist. Impatiently waiting for him to move, she groaned in disappointment when he stayed in the same position, his lips now trailing up her neck.

"Naruto," she whined. "Bed, now!"

"Your bed's wet," he whispered against her neck. "So I'm going to fuck you right up against this wall."

"You're so crude," she groaned, but she wouldn't admit that hearing him talk like that turned her on more than anything.

"Come on," he taunted her, trailing a hand down her stomach to finger the waistband of her shorts. "I know you like it when I'm being filthy."

With those words, his fingers sneaking inside her shorts and underneath her underwear, trailing down the mass of hair above her crotch, and roughly entering her. She let out a low moan as he pumped his fingers slowly, her head dropping on his shoulder and her fingers digging into his back. He had once mentioned that he liked when her nails scratched him, but unfortunately, she never was able to keep them for long as she had to cut them off for her job. It would be both shameful and sloppy to kill a patient because one sharp nails dug into their intestine while she was operating on them.

After a few moments and a mix of ragged breaths and low moans, Naruto dropped her legs on the ground, immediately grabbing her shorts and panties to shove them down her legs. She quickly removed them, but before she could completely get rid of her panties, he had already scooped her up in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist again with her underwear dangling off one ankle.

Her own hands trailed down his chest, finally sneaking inside his gym shorts and grabbing his erection to take it out of its constraints. Springing out of his trousers, his member rubbed deliciously against her core, coating it with her juices, and she swore into his ear.

" _Fuck_ \- Naruto, please," she whimpered out.

"Please what?" he groaned, rolling his hips against hers and rubbing his erection against her cunt.

"Just take me already," she cried out.

He complied, positioning himself at her entrance, and pushed into her in one swift thrust. Both let out a gasp at the familiarity of the feeling, enjoying the way they were intimately connected. It had been quite a while since they had been together like this, and Sakura had missed being stretched out and filled by her lover.

His arms flexed as he held her up, thrusting into her vigorously, as her back rubbed against the wall. The friction would probably leave her skin red, but Sakura couldn't care less when Naruto's dick was doing wonders to her walls.

Naruto was moving fast inside of her, pushing into her vagina in an upwards motion and hoisting her up against the wall with each thrust. Sakura could feel herself getting closer to her release by the second, biting his shoulder as she watched the underwear hanging from her ankle slip up and down her leg. She was groaning in frustration, feeling her release _just there_ , and Naruto seemed to get the message because he removed a hand that was palming her ass to bring it to her center and rub at her clit. He was close as well, as the movements of his fingers against her core were unfocused and irregular. But because of how wound up she already was, it was enough for her to come around his cock, her legs shaking uncontrollably. He groaned at the feeling of her walls tightening around him, and thrust into her overly sensitized cavern a few more times before coming undone, sheathing himself to the hilt for his release.

They stayed in the same position for a few moments to catch their breaths, Naruto keeping the woman in his arms from falling with great difficulty to his own shaky frame. Their activities had weakened him, and he ended up untangling her legs and setting her on the ground before he could drop her. She had to lean against the wall for a few seconds, as she felt like she would collapse at any second due to her wobbly legs, and watched her lover as he shoved his deflating member back inside his trousers. He gave her an appreciative once over, his eyes darkening when he noticed his semen dripping down her legs, a proud grim stretching his lips.

"I guess there's more stuff to clean now," he let out after a long silence.

Sakura let out a loud laugh, clutching her stomach and feeling even more of the sticky mess seep out of her, and her handsome partner soon joined her. He approached her and lifted her up in his arms, kissing her hair.

"You seem to be awfully fond of carrying me around," she mused.

"It's because you're so much smaller than I am. It makes me feel like I'm protecting you," he replied, walking through the house.

"I don't need protection," she protested.

"Oh, I know that," he laughed.

Sakura hit him in the arm, mumbling grumpily to herself.

" _Ouch_ \- that hurts! Why are you so violent? I'll drop you if you do that again!" he whined.

"Don't be such a baby, mister fireman," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He simply huffed, and entered her bedroom, making his way towards the bathroom. "Let's get you cleaned up, we both need a shower."

"We're not going to get much done if both of us go inside," she commented.

"I know," he smiled, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She hummed as he sat her on the edge of the bathtub, and closed the door behind him, taking his clothes off. Sakura mimicked him, dropping the panties that were still around her ankle to the ground, and removing the tattered shirt from around her frame.

"You know that I'm always up for another round," told her the blond man.

He approached her, walking like a predator in all his naked glory, and Sakura licked her lips as she eyed his impressive form. She got inside the tub, turning the faucet on and eyeing the water as it rose around her feet. Naruto quickly joined her, getting inside and laying against the cold bathtub, and grabbing her to place her in his lap. She leaned back against him, humming in content, and rubbed her ass against his awakening member.

"Luckily for you," she started, "I'm up for one as well."


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura walked inside her apartment, sighing in content after a tiring day at the hospital. The case and the endless hours she had to stay with the patients were taking their toll on her, and she felt like she would collapse at any moment.

"I'm home!" she shouted, and immediately started humming the last song she had heard on the radio. She didn't know the name, but it was another one of these songs about working, or something like that. In all honestly, these singers didn't know what they were talking about because working all the time was exhausting, especially when your asshole of an ex-boyfriend was trying to ruin your life.

"Sarada?" she shouted, when she got no answer. "That's weird, she's not here yet?" she muttered. "She must still be at Sasuke's."

She set her bag on the table, not bothering to walk to her room, and sat down on the sofa, stretching her tired limbs. She removed her shoes and gently massaged her ankles, before lying down on the couch to rest. It wasn't long before she closed her eyes, and fell into a deep slumber.

-: :-

It was a few hours later when the pink haired woman woke up, groggy and disoriented, and surprised to find out that she had fallen asleep on her couch.

"I must have been more tired than I thought," she murmured, yawning loudly, before getting up and walking to the kitchen to get something to eat. The clock on the stove showed that it was already past eight, and she could see the sun starting to set from the window. She groaned, realizing that she had already lost her whole afternoon sleeping, when she would usually spend time with her daughter.

She smiled to herself when she thought about her daughter. The young Uchiha had probably noticed how Sakura had been tired, and let her sleep. She was sometimes really considerate, and had an uncanny ability to understand things more mature than her age.

She opened the fridge, looking inside to see if she still had leftovers from the night before, and grinned in triumph when she saw the wrapped up lasagna. It was too late to cook, and she didn't have the energy to do it anyway.

"Lasagna it is," she declared to herself, taking the plate out.

She cut two pieces, one for her and one for her daughter, and placed them in the microwave before walking towards her daughter's room. She had probably gone there to read a book or to watch one of her cartoons like she usually did, and Sakura knew that if it weren't summer, she would scold her about her homework. Despite being a very smart girl, she tended to be forgetful and get wrapped up in her stories.

When Sakura got in front of her door, she knocked a few times, before calling for her daughter.

"Sarada? I'm heating up dinner. Come to eat," she said. There was no sound for a few seconds, before she knocked once again. "Sarada? Are you there?"

An impatient Sakura finally opened the door, thinking that Sarada had fallen asleep, but her eyes widened when she realized that there was no one in the room. She walked out, and looked inside the other rooms, and frowned when she couldn't find her daughter.

_Did Sasuke decide to keep her for the night?_

Her expression instantly morphed into anger, and she quickly walked back to the living room. She took her phone out of her purse to dial his number, which was something she hadn't done in more than a year, and patiently waited for him to answer.

" _Hello? Sakura? It's a surprise to hear from you."_

"Sasuke," she replied back coldly. "I don't appreciate you holding Sarada back."

" _What are you talking about?"_

"You're already trying to take her away, why do you also need to shorten the time I spend with her?"

" _I didn't do such thing,"_ he argued in a firm voice _. "I'm respecting the arrangement we set, and I have no idea where you're coming from."_

"Just bring Sarada home," she insisted tiredly. She didn't have the energy to argue.

" _I already took her to yours hours earlier, I left her in front of the building."_

She frowned her eyebrows. "She's not here, are you sure you didn't forget to bring her back?"

" _No I didn't, I left her in front of the building and even watched her get inside. Are you sure she's not sleeping somewhere? You know she tends to fall asleep everywhere."_

Sakura was starting to panic at the prospect of her daughter being gone. "No! She's not here, I've looked in every room!"

There was a pause on the other line. _"Well, shit. Call Ino, maybe she's at her house. I'll be there in ten."_

The line went dead, and Sakura hurriedly called Ino who, like Sasuke, confirmed that she had not seen the youngest Uchiha. At that point, Lucy had started panicking. Where would her wayward daughter have gone?

Before she could ponder further about her whereabouts, there was a knock on the door, and Sakura hurriedly ran to open it, knowing that Sasuke would be on the other side. It was the first time they were seeing each other in a long time without any form of resentment towards the other, but simply worry for their child.

"Did you call Ino?" he asked, making his way inside.

Sakura nodded, glaring at his back. "Yes I did, she had no idea where Sarada might be. Why didn't you bring her upstairs when you brought her home?"

"I never walk upstairs with her, it's no news to you, so stop finding excuses to blame me. Why weren't _you_ home when I brought her here?"

"I stayed late at work!" she retorted. "I wasn't that late anyway, only half an hour!"

"Well anything can happen in half an hour, look at what's happening right now, our daughter is missing!"

Sakura started pacing the living room, as Sasuke sat down on the sofa to stare at her in anger. Worry was clouding his mind, albeit not as apparently as Sakura.

"I don't know where she might have gone to, Naruto is working at the moment, and there's no one else living close enough for her to walk to their house. Do you think she was taken?" asked the pink haired woman.

"In your own building?" scoffed Sasuke. "I doubt it. Plus, it's been hours and no one called for a ransom or anything. If you want my honest opinion, I'd say that she left on her own."

"Why would she do that? It's getting dark, she shouldn't be out at this hour," whispered Sakura.

"She's a child, she probably got distracted," she shrugged, and Sakura stared at him in ager.

"You are way too relaxed about this, do you even care about your daughter?" she snapped.

"Of course I do," he replied back. "But there's no use in panicking. We'll find her."

"What if we don't? What if she's gone forever?" exclaimed Sakura, who was starting to really panic. "I'm going to call the cops."

She picked up her phone that she had put on the table, and started dialing when a knock on the door interrupted her.

"That's probably Ino," she muttered.

Sasuke stood up. "I'll open the door, you talk to the police."

"Okay," she nodded, watching him walk out of the living room, before dialing 911. It wasn't long before someone on the other line answered her call.

" _911, what's your emergency?"_

"Hi, my daughter's missing, and we can't find her anywhere," she informed the woman at the other line.

" _How old is your daughter?"_

"She's will be eleven in two weeks."

" _And when was the last time you've seen her?"_

"Two days-"

"Sakura," said a deep voice behind her.

She turned around, and was met with the sight of Sasuke's older brother holding Sarada's hand. The latter was looking at the ground in shame, and relief washed over Sakura at the sight of her daughter being safe and finally home.

" _-miss? Are you still with me?"_

"Oh yes, sorry," she replied. She had forgotten that she was talking on the phone. "My daughter just got home. It's fine now, thank you."

" _No problem."_

The line went dead, and Sakura put her phone down to reach for Sarada, and wrap her arms around the young girl in relief.

"Oh God, where have you been?"

The little girl didn't reply, and simply stood there in her mother's arms.

"I found her walking down the boulevard while I was driving. I found it curious that she was alone," said Itachi, who had been silent up until that moment. Sasuke soon followed his brother and his daughter, entering the living room with a much more relaxed posture. Sakura untangled her arms from around Sarada, placing the girl in front of her and staring into her eyes.

"Why would you do that? Why would you just leave the house without alerting me or your father? You know that you have to come inside and wait for me to come back home," scolded Sakura.

"I'm sorry," she muttered back.

"What were you thinking?" continued the rose. "Your father and I were so worried!"

"I'm sorry mom," she repeated, her head hanging low.

"Don't ever do that again, Sarada. I called the police for you!"

Sarada's shoulders started shaking, and Sakura's expression softened as she brought her daughter to her chest and wrapped her arms around her.

"Why are you crying? Tell me what's wrong."

Sarada kept crying, her body wracked by strong tremors, as her mother attempted to comfort her, her hand sliding down her hair as a reassuring gesture. Sasuke and Itachi watched the exchange with worried eyes, concerned about Sakura. Sasuke stood a few feet away from them, shifting from one leg to another. He had an idea why his daughter was so distressed, and a sudden surge of guilt started eating at him.

"I won't do it again," muttered Sarada, after she had slightly calmed down. "I was just mad."

"What were you mad about?" asked her mother. Sarada stayed silent, staring at her shoes, and Sakura nudged her. "You can tell me, we can fix whatever is making you sad."

"You can't fix it," replied Sarada.

"Try me," insisted the pink haired woman, giving a sideways look to Sasuke. "Your father and I care about you, and we want you to be happy. We'll help you with whatever is bothering you."

Sarada looked up, frustration swimming in her onyx orbs. "I want you two to stop fighting over me! I want us to be a family, not what we've become! I'm so tired of going to court and looking at all those stupid adults trying to decide everything for me! This is the first time in forever that I've seen you in the same room without you two glaring at each other!"

The three adults watched her with a stunned expression, and the young girl's gaze travelled between her two parents as they stood silent in front of her.

"I'm sorry Sarada, I know all of this is a lot to take in for a young girl like you, and trust me when I say that I would rather not have you go through all of this-" started her mother.

"Then stop!" shouted her daughter, taking a step back. Her angry glare went to her father, and she balled her hands into fists. "It's all because of you, dad! You're the one who caused all of this! You broke mommy's heart, and now you're trying to break our family for good! I've heard mom crying every night after you left, and there was no one to comfort her! And I heard her crying a lot because of the case. Thank God Naruto was here for her, because you've never done anything like that, ever! You're so selfish!"

The young girl screamed the last part, her eyes tightly shut and tears streaming down her face. She opened her eyes and stared at Sasuke, who stayed silent and preferred to look away in culpability. Sarada bit her lower lip, and huffed in anger, turning away and running towards her room.

"Sarada, wait," exclaimed her mother, trying to stop her, but the young Uchiha ignored Sakura and shut the door to her room behind her. Sakura debated whether to follow her or not, but chose not to, realizing that Sarada probably needed some time alone.

Sakura sighed, rubbing her temples, and turned around to stare at Itachi. "I'm sorry you came back to this, this whole case is weighing a lot on us."

"It's understandable," Itachi dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Sasuke, who hadn't said a word or looked at Sakura in the eyes since Sarada came back, suddenly spoke, and Sakura jumped in surprise, having completely forgotten about him. "I'll be going now," he muttered.

Sakura and Itachi watched as he scurried out of the house, before Sakura left the living room to grab two glasses of water. She came back to find Itachi sitting on the sofa in contemplation, and offered him one.

"Thank you," he said, downing the drink.

"Would you like something else? To eat perhaps?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he dismissed. "Dinner's waiting at home anyway."

"I'm just going to call Ino and tell her that Sarada's home," said Sakura, grabbing her phone. She called her best friend and quickly explained the situation, before putting the phone back down on the table.

"I feel like water isn't enough for me right now," muttered Sakura, taking a seat in front of him. "Sometimes I wish I could drown my problems in sake like Tsunade."

"How is she?" asked Itachi, setting the glass on the low table.

"She's good," smiled Sakura, "hasn't aged a day."

Itachi laughed lightly. "I would kill to know her secret."

"There are speculations around the hospital, the young nurses think it's witchcraft," mused Sakura.

"What a preposterous presumption," added Itachi, shaking his head to himself. "Although I understand they would think so with that temper of hers."

Sakura giggled, thinking back to her fiery superior.

"You don't need to know her secret, you look good yourself. I haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?"

"Pretty good," he replied. "I've been travelling around with Ayame to promote the company."

"Is Ayame around?" asked Sakura. "I would love to visit her. How is she doing?"

Itachi suddenly sobered up. "She's under a lot of stress at the moment. I don't know if you've heard, but we've been having some troubles with father concerning one aspect of our relationship."

Sakura worriedly gazed at him, setting her own glass on the table to give him her undivided attention. "What do you mean?"

"I'm infertile," he blurted out, and Sakura froze in her tracks. "We've been trying to have kids for some time now, and we didn't succeed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Sakura, sincerity in her words.

"Thank you," nodded Itachi. "It really isn't much of an issue with us. We don't really want kids, but we agreed when we got married that if it ever happened, we would keep it. But father wants an heir for the future of the company, and he had been pretty adamant about us having a child."

"So soon?" exclaimed Sakura, her eyes widening in surprise. "I thought that you were going to inherit the company!"

"I will, but father wants me to have a child before it happens to assure its future," explained Itachi.

"Have you thought about adoption?" suggested Sakura.

"We have," he nodded. "But you know him, father wants an Uchiha heir."

"What are you going to do?" asked Sakura worriedly, furrowing her eyebrows and looking at him in concern.

Itachi smiled softly at her. "We can't really do anything. I can't produce the Uchiha heir my father wants. He really wants one as fast as possible, and mom is too old to have a kid. He'd been running after Sasuke to get a spouse and give him one, but you know how he is, he hates the idea of marriage. He rejected the idea, and father seems pretty furious about it."

"Sasuke would never agree to it," Sakura shook her head. "I don't even think he wants more kids after Sarada!"

"I don't know how father hasn't disowned him for the refusal, Sasuke usually does anything he asks."

Sakura shrugged. "Knowing Sasuke, he probably proposed an alternative-"

She suddenly stopped talking, setting her mouth in a tight line, and narrowed her eyes, before cursing in realization. "I'll be damned."

Itachi smiled at her, running a hand through his long black hair. "So you've finally realized, huh? You know, I've found it very odd that Sasuke would try to get full custody of Sarada, it's really out of character for him to hurt his daughter or to hurt you-"

"That didn't stop him from cheating on me," she sneered out.

"I don't think it was intentional, he was being immature and didn't see the extent of the repercussions of his actions. This is different and very deliberate," explained Itachi.

Itachi was the only person other than Ino who knew what had transpired between her and Sasuke from the start. The day after her earth shattering discovery, she had called him first thing in the morning, crying on the phone about his brother being a cheating asshole. It wasn't a surprise when Sasuke sported a black eye when he had come to their former house a few days later to gather his belongings.

"How did you realize Fugaku was behind this?" she pondered.

"It was when I came back," he said. "Sasuke has always had his guard up around father, but the recent tension between them is palpable, and I knew something had transpired while I was away. It wasn't hard to put the pieces together when I learned about the custody matter, I soon realized that father had definitely asked something from Sasuke that he was very reluctant to do."

"I knew Sasuke was hiding something, I should have expected Fugaku was the one responsible for this," she sighed, leaning against the sofa and throwing her head back to stare at the ceiling in contemplation.

"I'm certain it will be fine," added Itachi reassuringly. "I heard that you got Nara to represent you, he's an excellent lawyer and he won't let you down."

Sakura looked back at him, and smiled gently. "I have faith in him, Naruto assured me that he was the best."

Itachi frowned, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Naruto?"

Sakura smiled, realizing that Itachi didn't know who the blond man was. He had been away for a big part of the last year, and would have not heard about it if he hadn't even learned about the case in the first place.

"My boyfriend," she explained.

"Ah," exclaimed Itachi. "I'm happy that you've moved on, Sarada's speech had me worried that you were still pining after Sasuke."

She laughed heartily. "I thought I would never get over him either! But Naruto changed my mind, he really is a great guy, and it helps that Sarada likes him a lot."

"I'm glad she does. It wouldn't have helped if he had been bad with her, she's going through enough already."

Sakura's eyes softened, and she looked down at her lap. "I wish I could do something to make her feel better, but I have no solution to her worries. All I can do is wait until the case is over."

Itachi nodded, smiling gently, and Sakura found herself returning it with incredible easiness considering the circumstances.

She often wondered why she had never fallen for the older Uchiha. He was an easier and gentler man, and a lot more understanding than the rest of his family. She got along with him best, and he had always been there for her from the start.

When she began dating Sasuke in high school, he had been aware of it, and despite knowing that Fugaku forbid his sons from dating, he had chosen to keep it to himself and encourage them, realizing that they truly wanted to be together. He had even sided with them when she got pregnant, and when Fugaku had learned about her disorder.

The CEO hadn't been happy, considering that Sakura had been pregnant with Sarada back then, and even voiced his fear of having his granddaughter inherit the disorder, saying that it would ' _taint the Uchiha blood'_. Needless to say, it was at that exact moment that Sakura truly realized that Fugaku didn't like her, and would never spare her a second glance.

"I should go home," started Itachi, getting up. "Ayame is waiting for me. She insisted on cooking and promised to make my favourite."

Sakura got up as well, and hugged the young man. "It's good to have you back in Konoha. Say hello to your wife from me, and I hope to see her soon."

"Of course," nodded Itachi.

-: :-

Sakura sat in front of Shikamaru, biting her nails in worry, and eyeing the documents in front of her under Shikamaru's pondering gaze.

"Do you think you can use any of this in our favour?" she asked.

"Probably not," the lawyer shook his head. "Knowing that the court is backing him up, they would not consider the fact that Fugaku wants Sarada for the company."

Sakura suddenly felt like crying, and Shikamaru, noticing the way her eyes seemed to rapidly tear up, placed a comforting hand on hers.

"Don't worry, I'm on a mission to figure something that would help," he reassured her.

"But it seems like anything we come up with doesn't work for us," she exclaimed, her voice trembling. "Fugaku has everyone in court backing him up, we can't beat that."

"That's why I came up with an idea that would work," he said, retracting his hand. "I figured out that since the Konoha court cannot help up, we should try and take this case to federal court. It's heavily monitored and the Uchiha would not have the occasion to bribe anyone."

Sakura suddenly perked up, a semblance of hope coming back. "How can we do that?"

"We have to find something serious enough to accuse Mr. Uchiha or his son with, something that would prevail against the case itself," he explained.

"Something more serious?" wondered Sakura. "Like…something illegal?"

Shikamaru nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking of. If we can't beat them on a smaller scale, we have to think outside the box."

"I don't think they've done anything illegal! And even so, it would ruin their lives to accuse them of it," protested Sakura.

He chuckled at the remark, shaking his head to himself. "Of course not, Dr. Haruno. The Uchiha have money, and would be able to cover it up and come up with alibis and whatnot. Sure, it would take some time, but the end result would be the same. That is unless it's something undeniable and highly dangerous and risky that they cannot cover up. But I don't think we would have to go that far. We just need something mild that would create an additional case that would make the court reconsider the custody issue. Just the fact that something illegal or dangerous might be linked to Sasuke would force the federal court to consider something safer for your daughter; you."

Sakura stared at him in awe, her mouth slightly agape. "Holy fucking shit, you really are a genius."

Shikamaru threw his head back and laughed heartily, and Sakura reddened at the realization that she had just cursed in front of a man she wasn't used to being so crude around.

"I apologize," she muttered, watching him taking deep breaths to calm himself.

Shikamaru finally calmed down, wiping remnants of imaginary tears from his eyes. "Do not worry, Dr. Haruno, I've been acquainted with Naruto for ages, and I've heard things ten times worse come out of his mouth."

Sakura pondered for a moment. Naruto was indeed very crude when he wanted to, and the young lawyer had definitely heard a few of his colourful expressions in his lifetime.

"I think we've known each other for long enough, and if we're going to keep working together, you can just call me Sakura," she said with a smile.

"And you can just call me Shikamaru," he smiled back, going back to his files. "Now, if we want to find something that would help our case, we need to dig deeper."

"That would be hard," she said. "Sasuke wouldn't do anything illegal himself unless his father was the one behind it. But Fugaku is pretty secretive about his stuff, it would be hard to find something."

"Indeed, but like every successful and multimillion business, there's always something not very honest that had to be done to get it where it is."

"What you're saying is that we have to look into the company's past?" she asked.

"Yes," he acquiesced. "We know that Uchiha Inc made a lot of money in an abnormally short time. There ought to be something that helped. Perhaps some mild embezzlement? That would be good to use; it's serious enough to be considered by the federal court, but not enough to ruin their lives."

"How do we proceed?" asked Sakura eagerly.

"I have already started looking into his past associates, and I'm waiting for anything concrete to come back. I have some contacts, and if he'd done them any harm by the past, they will be very willing to sell him out without even having to pay them," he explained. "As for you, I want you to think back to anything strange concerning Fugaku. You had been with Sasuke for a long time, and you might recall something that could help."

"I could ask Itachi," she suggested.

"Is that the next heir?" asked Shikamaru, and she nodded. "No matter how much you trust him, don't go to him about this," he disagreed, and her face fell. "He would not agree to something against his future company. It would just alert Fugaku, and we don't want him to take any more precautions."

"That's understandable-"

Sakura was cut short when Shikamaru's phone started ringing. The young lawyer apologized, picking it up, and answered the phone after a long, bored sigh.

"Shikamaru Nara speaking," he said, before listening intensely. "Yes, yes of course-oh, this is great news," he exclaimed with a smile, looking sideways at Sakura. "Thank you, goodbye."

He put the phone down, and placed his arms on the table to look at Sakura.

"Did that have something to do with the case?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "That was my assistant. The court called back at the office, and it turns out that we won't need to do any of this, because Sasuke had decided to drop the case."


End file.
